It’s safe to say that 2020 has thrown a lot at us all, individuals and businesses alike. As we’re now into the final three months of the year, peak season; Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, and Boxing Day sales are ready and waiting, but are you?

With 73% of UK consumers looking to buy primarily online^[1], it’s not hard to see why industry experts are saying that 2020 is set to be the biggest and busiest peak season for online retailers

Ecommerce has been steadily growing over the last 13 years; starting in 2007 with just 3.4% of total retail sales being attributed to internet sales, right through to 2019, where 19.2% of total retail sales were attributed to online sales^[2].

If 2020 had been a normal year, we’d be expecting this year’s figures to average at somewhere between 20.5% and 22%. However, it’s been far from a normal year; a national lockdown forcing all non-essential shops to close, meaning the only option for purchasing anything other than groceries or health supplies was to turn to online shopping, meaning the figures have actually looked like this for the year so far:

After lockdown was announced at the end of March, online sales quickly ramped up

Non-essential retail shops re-opened in June and as you can see, rates did fall slightly, but are still well above the figures from earlier in the year.

So, to put that into context, here’s what it looks like compared to the same time frame in 2019:

It shows that the first 8 months of the year are typically fairly flat after the Christmas sale come-down in January as historically there’s never been a cause for a peak to occur at any time other than the last three months of the year around the holiday season.

Whilst the figures look fairly modest, there was actually a near 20% increase in online sales from September to November.

If the same increase were to happen in 2020, we’d be looking at around 30% of total retail sales happening online.

However, it’s likely to be an even bigger increase than normal as two thirds of households have increased their online spend in 2020. As well as this, 70% of consumers are insistent that their Christmas spend will not reduce despite 40% of households receiving a reduced income.

And whether it’s the desire to avoid large crowds, fear over a second full lockdown, or conversion to online shopping after experiencing the convenience of it when forced to earlier this year, almost three quarters of UK consumers are looking to buy primarily online this holiday season.

Without a doubt, it will be the largest Christmas peak to date, as the ecommerce market continues to experience exceptional growth. Whether it’s the largest peak of 2020 is another matter, but it will likely be a very close run race.

As always, our advice for any ecommerce retailer going into peak season is to stock up early and be prepared – putting it off won’t make it go away! With Amazon Prime Day taking place in the middle of October instead of its usual July slot, savvy shoppers will be using that as the catalyst to getting their Christmas shopping underway. Consumers will also be planning to take advantage of Black Friday discounts; perhaps more so than ever with so many people with less expendable income.

Whichever way we look at it, peak season is truly upon us, and we’re in this together. If you’re trying online selling for the first time and need help with getting the right packaging, or if it’s not your first rodeo but are in need of some advice for increasing your efficiency, please get in touch with us by calling on 01622 580100, speaking with an expert on live-chat, or leave us a comment below – we’ll be more than happy to help you make this peak season a success!