21.01.12. eBay Lead the Way as UK eCommerce Sales Hit £50bn
UK eCommerce sales realised a 14% increase in 2011, with online giants eBay and ASOS posting fantastic results for the year. Kelkoo, who announced the findings also expect the same level of growth in 2012; music to the ears of those businesses who have focused on establishing themselves online.
The high street again took a battering in 2011 with a number of established shops falling by the wayside; the most recent being Peacocks which filed for liquidation in January. Thorntons and TJ Hughes were amongst the others who ran into trouble in the last year.
eBay’s vision of being able to shop anywhere and at anytime is fast becoming a reality, with the future of the high street again being called into question.
eBay saw fantastic growth all of the way through 2011, however, it will have been buoyed significantly by $8.5bn being cleared in their bank in October – the final instalment from their sale of Skype to Microsoft. eBay relinquishing their final stake in Skype saw a 354% hike in profits compared with the final quarter of 2010; even with this apart, it’s difficult to argue with their success in 2011.
eBay has not been the only significant success story on the web. Many independents have enjoyed huge growth in 2011, as shopping online is better facilitated. Fashion giant ASOS saw profits rise 10% in the final quarter of 2011, with an astonishing overseas growth of 93%. Christmas is naturally a busy time for online retailers and consumer confidence will have been increased by the lack of extreme weather conditions which played havoc with deliveries in the run up to Christmas 2010.
Surveys have shown that UK shoppers are leading the rest of Europe in online shopping, with internet sales responsible for 12% of average expenditure. Each person in the UK spent on average £1,500 online last year on 39 items.
