ONLINE shopping is booming like never before in Guernsey. Electronics retailer MX2 has experienced a 20% surge in sales from last year and HMV Guernsey described its warehouse as resembling the Starship Enterprise.
The boom has been mirrored in the UK, where online shopping experienced its most lucrative moment in history on Monday 10 December, according to the internet watchdog Retail Decisions.
Office workers on their lunch break joined shoppers to create the ‘mega minute’ at 1.09pm when £767,500 was spent.
During the peak minute, an average of 128 people spent almost £100 each, every second.
This led to £370m. being spent throughout the day - the biggest amount ever.
MX2 managing director John Arch said he was not surprised.
‘Our busiest time was the first weekend of December when the number of our orders tripled,’ he said.
A spokesman for HMV Guernsey said it was a record sales period as well.
‘Our warehouse was swamped with orders, but the staff coped magnificently,’ he said.
‘It resembled a scene from the engine room of the Starship Enterprise, but when warp speed was required to respond to the demand, our staff were able to deliver.’
Monday is traditionally the biggest day for online shopping because customers spend their weekends browsing in high street shops and discussing gift ideas with friends and family before going online when they return to work.
Mr Arch said his prime order days were Sundays and Mondays.
‘I would agree. People tend to see what they want in the high street during the weekend and then find it online at the start of the week, where it can often be 20 or 30% cheaper,’ he said.
‘Whereas high street shopping is often an impulse decision, online shopping tends to be more researched and thought out.’
According to Retail Decisions, the most sought after item online at the moment is the Nintendo Wii games console, followed by the iPod Shuffle and iPod Nano digital music players.
In Guernsey, electronics retailers MX2 had been unable to get hold of enough Wiis to meet demand, as had pretty much all other sellers.
‘If I had a thousand Wiis, I would have sold them all,’ said Mr Arch.
‘I have got two more coming in but they were sold three months ago and it’s taken this long for them to arrive.
‘Our big sellers have been digital photo frames, new digital photo frames and photo gifts that allow people to send us their digital photos and get them put on things like mouse mats and mugs.’
According to Retail Decisions, the online shopping total is predicted to be £53.3bn - 76% higher than last year’s £30.2bn.
Mr Arch cited convenience, discounts and the poor weather as the main reasons for the boom.
‘Go onto any of the major search engines and you are able to compare the prices of 150 different retailers instantly,’ he said.
‘Trudging around the shops with disruptive kids in tow is unnecessary now.
‘Improved safety and security have done wonders for the internet over the past five years, although even now some people remain slightly wary about it.
‘But why fight for car parking space in North Beach and have a limited choice of shops when you can do it all from the comfort of your own home?’
However, the growth of online shopping is not yet deemed to be a threat to the high street, as it still represents only 6% of total retail spending, rising to 12% in December.
The biggest problem for online retailers is expected to be coping with demand.
In recent years retailers have been unable to fulfil late orders in time for Christmas.
An estimated 500,000 presents arrived after 25 December last year.
‘One of the beauties of Guernsey is that companies in the same field as each other tend to help each other out when it comes to staff shortages and getting deliveries out on time,’ said Mr Arch.
‘But half a million late deliveries sounds high to me.’
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