Results of the consumer survey by GfK NOP were published in Retail Week recently. The Christmas 2008 Study was conducted online using the GfK panel of more than 200,000 active members, representative of the UK online population.

One of the most interesting questions was "Where are you going do your Christmas shopping?" and the result shows just how much consumers value the online retail.



Q: Which of the following places will you do some or all of your Christmas shopping? Q: And at which one will you do most of your Christmas shopping? Q In which of the following places did you do some or all of your Christmas shopping last year? Base 1,250 UK adults)
Online shoppers

• Online shoppers also tend to be those with higher personal and household incomes.
• They are also the higher spenders at Christmas and are intending to spend more than last year.
• So retailers with an online presence have the best chance of riding out any Christmas downturn.

This is another study that shows the importance for retailers in having a multichannel or cross-channel presence to maximise their opportunity in the future. The biq question is still whether retailers will deploy the right epos software or multichannel technology to allow them to capitalise on these opportunities in a manageable way.