IMRG predicts UK e-shoppers will spend £26bn in 2006

The Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) has released its latest yearly report on online retailing. The publication includes predictions for the year ahead, and a list of key issues that e-traders will face over the coming months.

The IMRG, which represents a number of high street and online retailers, predicts that this year will see ten percent of all purchases being made online, as a result of more consumers having broadband, and retailers making better use of the internet.

The IMRG forecast that £26bn will be spent online in the UK in 2006, and online shoppers will typically spend up to £1,000 each. This would continue recent growth - for example, in 2005 sales topped £2bn in November and December, up 50 percent against the same period in 2004. And over the last five years online shopping has grown by 2,600 percent, according to IMRG figures.

However, online retailers still face challenges. IMRG members were asked to rank a list of issues according to their significance. This year, usability, customer retention, and interactive marketing were cited as chief concerns by over 50 percent. E-crime and delivery fulfilment were rated as high-priority issues by about a third.

In related news, web testing firm SciVisum last week released research on regional e-commerce spending. The firm’s eCommerce Regional Rift study found that consumers in the north east of the country spent the most online, and were likely to buy the most high-value goods.

SciVisum said that a third of consumers in that region spent between £50 and £100 per month and would spend as much as £5,000 on a single purchase, such as a car. In contrast shoppers in the south said that they would spend no more than £50 per month, and would never spend as much as £5,000.

The most popular items online are books and CDs, which are purchased by three quarters of shoppers. About half of shoppers said they would buy holidays and electrical goods, and about a quarter do their grocery shopping and finances online.