Christmas Is On 12 December This Year..

..if you are an online retailer that is. BBC analysis of the Christmas Retail Survey 2005 compiled by Deloitte shows that 60 % of High Street shops in the UK expect sales to be down on Christmas last year, and that in contrast, online shops can expect double-digit growth. OK to a certain extent online growth is from a low base, but the UK economy is not actually robust right now. There is not a lot new in the Deloitte report, but you may be able to get the odd nugget.

1.Surprisingly, the heavy spenders are not the young but the 45-to-54 age group, according to the Deloitte survey.

2.There is another important difference to bricks-and-mortar shopping.
"Mondays are always our biggest days"

3. "And in the run-up to Christmas, the second Monday in December is always the biggest day."

4.Most of the online shopping is still done in the office.

5.Federal Express says 12 December will be its busiest day of the year.

So it doesn't look as if you need wait till 25th December for Santa. And as they say "Happy Holidays".