Christmas Bonanza – New Year Gloom.
17-01-2006
David Kern, the economic adviser to the British Chamber of Commerce, said “Christmas was not as bad as initially feared but we should wait until the end of January to see if business in December has taken away from the January sales. I have heard it said that the sales started well then things fell back”.
On-line sales however have continued to increase over the Christmas period. Sainsbury is now set to relaunch its online grocery service to capitalise on a 45% rise in internet sales during the last quarter of 2005. It’s Sainsbury’s To You service will be renamed Sainsbury’s Online and will extend it’s reach by a million households this year to rach 83% of the country.
Sofiss latest designer to join the FashionCapital boutique
Traditionally female users and purchases of online products has been dominated by the male market. With the increase use of woman now buying groceries on line this all adds to the confidence of the use of the net and the willingness to buy on line.
With a somewhat gloomy outlook painted for retail sales is internet buying of all products now about to start another .com revolution? There are of course inherent problems with internet buying on the web for ladieswear products. Ladies do love to shop – they like to feel the merchandise (in buyers speak this is called the “handle”), they like to try the different colours and silhouettes to ensure that they are not buying a pig in a poke! Also, let’s not forget the credibility problems of buying off the net? Are consumers going to buy online that little black dress number from a relatively unknown designer without having the full security of knowing that the garment will actually arrive?
There’s a long way to go for confidence to grow for internet buying but the future looks bright….I won’t slip into a pun here!
Jenny Holloway
Industry Advisor
