December 03 2007
Online shopping set to exceed £5 billion in December
APACS, the UK payments association, expects Christmas shoppers to spend over £5 billion online this December.
APACS figures show that the number of adults shopping online has more than doubled in the last five years to almost 30 million.
To help online shoppers stay free from fraud this Christmas, APACS has also launched www.shopsafeonline.org.uk, which contains details about Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode – systems that make online shopping payments more secure for both consumers and online retailers. The new website shows how to sign up to these systems and contains 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."
APACS estimates that total spending on cards, cash and cheques will reach £53.0 billion in December, an increase of 4.2% from 2006 figures.
Total spending on plastic 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.
