Britons' love of eCommerce to flourish, while tablets set the pace in 2012

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: Britons' love of eCommerce to flourish, while tablets set the pace in 2012.

Logan Tod & Co.'s 6th Annual Online Future Shopping Index predicts growth of between 18% and 22% during Christmas 2012 exceeding the rate of growth in 2011. According to the December 2011 online shopping survey of future retail trends, 26% of online shoppers are indicating that they plan to spend even more online in December 2012. This represents the highest measurement of intent to shop online since the survey was launched in December 2006.

Matthew Tod, Chief Executive at Logan Tod & Co explains: "Whilst we weren't expecting a decline in intent to shop over the internet during Christmas 2012, we didn't expect such a strong indication of growth either. With mobile shopping finally 'coming of age', the sudden emergence of tablets which almost came out of nowhere, plus many companies finally getting to grips with multichannel retail, we are forecasting eCommerce going from strength to strength."

Tablet computing is perhaps the most significant contributor to forecasts gathered in the survey this year; 14% of total respondents indicated they used an iPad or other tablet device to make purchases over the same period, demonstrating that just 18 months from launch, use of tablets for shopping has almost equalled that of mobile phones. 7% of total respondents used a mobile to purchase an item in the run up to Christmas 2010, this figure having more than doubled to 15% in 2011.

Matthew Tod: "Our research demonstrates that tablets are now growing even faster than the mobile commerce market and it is becoming increasingly evident that one of their primary functions is as online shopping tools, meaning retailers must include them in their multichannel plans for 2012 and beyond. They should now be creating separate PC, mobile and tablet strategies to reflect the migration of the most prolific online shoppers towards tablets."

Low-cost delivery options (taking longer to arrive but costing less) is once again the number one feature that would encourage shoppers to spend more online, with 57% selecting this option, compared to 56% last year. Over 45% of respondents highlighted improved stock availability as a key reason that would increase their likelihood to shop online, with other key drivers including improved payment options (46%) and not surprisingly, additional money-saving offers (48%).

When asked about multichannel options, some interesting results emerged compared to last Christmas. Over 45% of those surveyed said they had used clickand-collect this Christmas compared to just under 39% during Christmas 2010 (15% growth), whilst a huge 60% indicated they had browsed a catalogue and then gone on to purchase online, compared to just 39% in last year (54% growth). In addition 39% of respondents said they researched products online before purchasing in store, compared to 32% the previous year (an increase of 22%).

Matthew Tod concludes: "It is going to be another challenging year keeping up with the ever changing multi-channel consumer, but retailers should continue to invest in this area as consumers are still saying they intend to spend significantly more online in 2012."