13 November 2007, 19:42 PM

  • A new survey from Deloitte has shown that internet shopping is the fastest growing purchasing channel for festive shoppers, but local sourcing is also going strong.

Use of the internet for the bulk of Christmas shopping has doubled since 2006 (14% in 2007, versus 7% in 2006), according to the Annual Christmas Retail Survey published by business advisory firm Deloitte. Seventy-four percent of consumers will use online or mail order in some way for their Christmas shopping and two thirds (66%) of consumers will research or purchase goods online compared to half of the population (51%) last year. Consumer appetite for all things high tech will reach new heights over the festive period.

However, although much of the present-buying is being catered for online, when it comes to food and drink, consumers are trading up and looking closer to home.

Although grocery retail will capture the bulk (77% in 2007, compared to 79% in 2006) of Christmas food shopping, ‘going local’ for food is growing in popularity, wiht 29% of consumers, up from 20% in 2006, heading to small independent stores and local farmers’ markets (16%, up from nine percent in 2006) this Christmas to do a proportion of their food shopping over the holiday season.

Tarlok Teji, head of retail at Deloitte, said, “Total expenditure on food and drink is up nine percent on 2006. This is partly driven by consumers trading up and indulging themselves with premium, provenance and fair-trade products.”

The biggest challenge for retailers is to meet the growing demand for local products. To have a local offering retailers need to have all their ducks in a row when it comes to sourcing and suppliers. Those that manage to make it work will be able to tap into a growing trend.”