4 December 2007
APACS , the UK payments association, expects online shopping to exceed £5 billion online this December.
The figures show that the number of adults shopping online has more than doubled in the last five years to almost 30 million.
APACS also estimates that total spending on cards, cash and cheques will reach £53.0 billion in December, an increase of 4.2% from 2006 figures.
To help online shoppers stay free from fraud this Christmas, APACS has also launched Shop Safe Online, which contains details about Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode. These systems make online shopping payments more secure for both consumers and online retailers. The main aim of the new website is to show how to sign up to secure systems and also to provide a free-to-download copy of the Paying Safely Online advice guide.
Sandra Quinn, director of communications at APACS, said:
We reckon that Monday 3 December is likely to be one of the busiest online shopping days of the year. More and more of us are buying our Christmas presents online and the evidence suggests we like to do so about three weeks before the big day to ensure they are delivered on time.
Total spending on credit or debit cards is expected to increase by almost ten percent (9.9%) this December (compared with last December) while spending on cards at online retailers is expected to increase by more than half (55.6%) from £3.6 billion in December 2006 to £5.6 billion in December this year - over a billion pounds a week in the lead up to Christmas.
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