Holiday e-commerce to grow in UK

• On average, 62 percent of respondents in the three countries expect to spend about the same on their holiday shopping as they did last year; 20 percent expect to spend more; and 18 percent expect to spend less. Accordingly, total spend is likely to be up only slightly versus last year.
• However, 36 percent of respondents expect to spend more online on their holiday shopping than they did last year while 50 percent expect to spend the same and just 14 percent expect to spend less.

• In the U.K., 48 percent of respondents said they had already started their Christmas shopping, with a further 30 percent planning to start within the first two weeks of November, according to comScore.
• German shoppers were also quick off the mark, with 36 percent having already started their Christmas shopping and a further 38 percent intending to do so within the fortnight.
• However, only 19 percent of French respondents claimed to have already started shopping for Christmas, with a further 38 percent planning to wait until December.
• French consumers were also found to be the most likely to still be shopping on Christmas Eve, with 7 percent saying that they would likely wait until the last minute.

• Credit cards are by far the most popular form of online payment in France.
• Debit cards/bank transfers are the most popular in the U.K. and Germany.
• Preference for PayPal ranged from a low of 14 percent in France and Germany to a high of 20 percent in the U.K.

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