Online stores rival each other in slashing prices for Christmas sales
ONLINE retailers are gearing up for a festive price war to tempt cash-strapped Christmas shoppers, a survey showed.
Some 44 per cent of the UK’s small and medium-sized web retailers will be slashing prices to boost sales in the run-up to Christmas, a Royal Mail study showed.
The poll of 458 online retailers showed they expect this coming Saturday to be the busiest Christmas online sales day as shoppers try to allow enough time for products to be delivered.
Just under a third of those surveyed said keeping prices competitive while still making a profit was their biggest challenge.
The study contained a cautionary note for traditional retailers saying online retailers believed their main competition would come from web rivals rather than the high street.
Meanwhile department store group John Lewis said sales rose 2.1 per cent year on year to £111.9million in the week to November 23.
IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer pointed out that Lewis’s figures showed Christmas spending has yet to take off adding: “A strong Christmas for retailers is far from guaranteed.”