Actinic stats spotlight bumper Christmas for e-commerce

Christmas shoppers rushed online in the first two weeks of December

New sales figures released today from e-commerce software provider Actinic show that this festive period has been a bumper one for small and medium sized online retailers.

The vendor's seventh annual Christmas poll found respondents reporting an average 51 per cent increase in order volumes for November and December 2009 compared with the previous year.

In addition, average turnover figures showed a healthy 42 per cent increase in revenue compared to 2008, although growth had slowed from 48 per cent in 2008.

The research also found shoppers delaying their purchases for as long as possible this year, with the busiest period for sales this year coming in the first two weeks of December, as opposed to the last week in November in 2008.

"This is another impressive performance by online sellers in the SME market, with many Actinic customers weathering the economic climate and reporting healthy increases in both order volumes and revenue," said Actinic managing director Nick Kington.

"Some of December's larger value item purchases might be attributed to customers wanting to benefit from the 15 per cent VAT rate before its return to 17.5 per cent this month. Only time will tell either way."