Retail spending made via the internet (excluding food) accounts for 18.3% of all retail spending, according to the BRC’s figures.
Britons are also expected to spend more than 20.4 billion pounds in the run up to Christmas, with some 10 billion pounds being spent in December alone, according to a separate study.
The BRC said: “Online sales of non-food products in the UK grew 12.1% in October versus a year earlier. The online penetration rate was 18.3% in October, the highest level ever recorded by our monitor over 23 months”.
Britain’s love of online shopping is so strong that the rest of Europe, and even the USA, are behind the UK in terms of online spending.
This trend has not gone unrecognised and many retailers are working on their multi-channel offering in order to survive.
The shift has led to a major re-think about the problem of Britain’s high streets with many retailers urging the government to reconsider business rates.
The BRC is not alone in their online spending forecast either. The IMRG, the trade body for web stores, is predicting that Christmas web sales will increase by at least 15% compared to the previous year.
Spokeswoman Tina Spooner said: “Already we are seeing a number of retailers ramping up their online offering in the run up to Christmas.
“Click & Collect, next day delivery and even on-hour delivery slots are just a few of the options on offer to attract the lucrative festive shopper at this highly competitive time of year”.
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