£1 in every £10 spent by shoppers now involves internet purchases

Almost £1 in every £10 spent by shoppers now involves internet purchases
Web stores, which offer lower prices and convenience, are the one area of retail showing strong growth, according to figures from the Office of National Statistics(ONS).
Internet purchases of clothing and footwear are up by 21per cent compared to a year ago, which compares to a 2.1per cent fall for bricks and mortar outlets.

Surfing shoppers: £1 in every tenner is spent online, according to new statistics released (Posed by model)

The share of retail sales attributed to the internet has more than trebled since 2007.
The weekly value of internet sales in September was £539.4million, which equates to 9.6per cent of retail spending. This is up from £415.9m a year ago, which was some 7.7per cent of all sales.
One reason for the surge is the rise of smartphones like Apple’s iPhones, which have sophisticated software which makes surfing the web, price comparisons and purchases extremely simple.

Helping hand: The iphone's capabilities have aided shopping using new methods of purchasing
The web store trade body IMRG is predicting that total sales for the sector this year will be up by 16per cent on 2010.
The figures were published on the same day that Debenhams said that 7.4per cent of all of its sales had come through its internet site.
It is installing 650 internet kiosks in its department stores to help it persuade high street shoppers to order products online when they cannot find them on the shelves.
The ONS said the total value of retail sales from all sectors was up by 5.4per cent in September compared to a year ago. This was better than expected.
Strong sales of laptops, linked to the start of the new academic year, and video games helped the figures.
However, analysts doubt this relatively robust performance will persist through to Christmas, given the cost of living squeeze.
Director general of the British Retail Consortium, Stephen Robertson, said: ‘Christmas has always been the most important time for retail but this year is going to be particularly critical as businesses look to make up lost ground. Customers can expect to benefit from extremely fierce competition for their spending.’