Are consumers moving back to the high street?
Online spending in the UK retail arena fell to its lowest annual growth level last month with many suggesting that the short-term love affair with online spending may be coming to an end. However, is this really true or are there other issues which have come into play?
Unfortunately for those who are looking towards the UK high street to pull the UK economy out of the recession, the signs are that consumers will return to the online arena in the short, medium and longer term. The recent slowdown in online spending would appear to be caused by a mixture of heavy discounts on the high street, where retailers are still struggling, and concerns about the ongoing postal strike and a number of "mistruths" regarding the postal service.
Despite the fact that many people are concerned about receiving the goods from online companies before Christmas the truth is that the Parcel service arm of the Royal Mail is unaffected by the strike and indeed many companies such as Amazon have taken on third-party delivery companies. Online spending is set to balloon in the years to come placing more pressure on UK retailers who have yet to invest heavily into their online operations.
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