Mega Monday set to be busiest online shopping day of 2011

Monday, November 21st is expected to be the busiest online shopping day of the year, with customers expected to spend in the region of £424 million, pushing the total Internet Christmas spend closer to an expected £13.4 billion figure.

The date – deemed ‘Mega Monday’ by many observers – typically falls a week later in the calendar, but due to inclement weather causing delayed deliveries in 2010, customers are expected to react by placing orders earlier to ensure that they arrive in good time.

However, there may be another bumper weekend at the start of December, with Sunday 4th and Monday 5th likely to see shoppers spend £418m and £406m respectively. Supporting this theory, Amazon UK expects its busiest online shopping day of the year to be on the latter of these two days.

Research indicates that purchases via mobile phones will account for 12% of Internet Christmas spending this year, which translates to a lofty £1.64bn.

The research was undertaken by online comparison site Kelkoo in conjunction with the Centre for Retail Research. Chris Simpson, Chief Marketing Officer at Kelkoo, comments: “With £424 million being spent on just one day, Monday November 21st will be a hugely significant day for online retailers. Overall, the six weeks in the run-up to Christmas will be a time for e-tailers to really boost their sales figures at the end of a challenging trading year.

“The great news is that more than £13 billion is going to be spent online during the festive season, which is an increase on last year, so websites will be focused on getting their pricing strategies exactly right to ensure that they attract as many of those pounds as possible.”