Online UK Retail Surges While High Street Revenues Fall

With the UK's retail sector being hit hard by the ongoing recessionary trend, online retailing seems to be the saviour that would make up for the losses in trade in the high street stores, according to a recent study.

A new study commissioned by the online payment system PayPal estimated that spending over the web in the UK seems poised to double to £21.3 billion, from just under current £9 billion, by the end of 2011.

Presenting a gloomy picture for the physical stores ahead, the study, which was carried out by the market research firm Experian, suggested that sales in physical stores would notably plunge by up to £8.3 billion by the aforementioned period.

Touting the contribution of online sales in the contemporary retail sector, the managing director for PayPal UK Carl Scheible argued that the significance of online retail “can no longer be dismissed as a sideshow”.

“Online's phenomenal growth is not only forecast to deliver sales of as much as £21.3bn by 2011, but a £12.3bn increase will also ensure that the entire UK retail sector is growing again by the end of 2011”, he added. The study further predicated total retail sector to grow by 0.2 percent from 2008 to 2011.

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