By Charlotte Hanson

Payment services provider (PSP), Computop, has analysed payment patterns across its global network, which handles USD five billion annually in turnover for global retailers, for the final week of November to get an early indication of how consumer spending behaviour is shaping-up in the run up to Christmas. Purchasing patterns were compared for the same sample, for the same period, in 2010 and 2011.

Key findings from the data show that UK retailers experienced no growth in turnover, whilst their Eurozone contemporaries saw a 15 per cent increase and America’s retailers enjoyed a substantial 22 per cent growth in sales.

Speaking about the findings, Ralf Gladis, CEO of Computop, said; “What is most interesting about this analysis is that it indicates that 2011 could be the first year, since shopping online became mainstream in the mid1990s, that e-retailers in the UK will not experience a significant growth in online sales. However it is also shows that this is a local pattern, whilst in Europe and the USA online sales are in rude health. As we enter a less certain economic environment in 2012, this data shows that e-commerce continues to be a key growth engine for retailers, even if there are regional variations and impacts from the current economic downturn.”

The United Kingdom – No growth

The analysis shows a nine per cent increase in basket values, however, this is offset by a seven per cent drop in the number of orders, leaving UK retailers no better off this year than last.

When looking closer at the 2011 figures for the UK, analysis shows that although the number of orders in GBP grew by 15% from October to November 2011, basket values dropped by 16 per cent, resulting in a seven per cent decrease in overall turnover.

The Eurozone – 15 per cent increase in sales

European consumers spent between six per cent more in their online baskets than they did last year, which combined with an increase of nine per cent in order numbers, delivers overall growth in sales of 15 per cent.

The United States – 22 per cent increase in sales

US consumers spent 22 per cent more money online in the last week of November 2010 compared to the same week in 2011 Basket values increased by 26 per cent in the run up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Gladis continued, “Whilst times are looking tough for retailers this Christmas, there are steps that they can take to try and escape the flattening growth trend. Optimising shop usability and offering more payment methods are two key recommendations for increasing conversion rates. In addition to this, UK retailers may want to look to expand their customer base into international markets.

“Thanks to the European Union there are almost no legal barriers to entering the Eurozone market. There is no need to establish a legal entity immediately and depending on the choice of payment methods you allow, it might not even be necessary to open a local bank account.”

Methodology

For the purposes of this research, Computop analysed the number of orders as well as basket values and turnovers of 1,600 international online retailers, travel and gaming portals using the Computop Paygate payment platform. The analysis focused on the same customers. New customer wins are not included in this analysis.

About the author and Computop

Charlotte Hanson is PR for Computop, a payment service provider (PSP) that was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Bamberg, Germany. The company has global customers such as Fossil, C&A, Samsung and TUI and has offices located in North America and Europe. Computop’s Paygate PCI-compliant hosted payment solution supports all non-customer present payments, including telephone, online and mobile.

http://www.computop.com