80% of online retailers that are Royal Mail clients offer alternative delivery methods

London – November 5^th, 2009. Twenga, the shopping search engine, has carried out research to predict how the Royal Mail strikes will impact online retailers in the run up to Christmas.  Twenga investigated the delivery options offered by the top 50 online retailers in the UK to see how they handle delivery during the Royal Mail strikes. The results show that 80% of those advertising delivery of goods through Royal Mail before the strikes now propose alternative delivery methods to their customers, in most cases at no extra cost, or at a reduced fee for express delivery. For example:

• Amazon offers delivery through a courier service at no extra cost.
• HMV offers priority delivery through a courier service at a reduced £3.50 fee.

Many retailers go to great lengths to make sure customers are not inconvenienced, in particular:

• ASOS has extended its returns policy to 28 days, and introduced a paid collection service to return goods without using Royal Mail.

Online shopping is not dependent on Royal Mail
The reliance of online retailers on Royal Mail has been greatly exaggerated. Even before the strikes only 31% of online retailers relied solely on Royal Mail, a figure now reduced as online retailers react swiftly to customer delivery needs. 54% offer in-store collection or a collection point.

Methodology
Twenga researched the delivery options displayed on the Web sites of the top 50 retailers listed by Hitwise, excluding those with non-physical products or services.

43% of British people will be spending less in 2009 compared to 2008. Only 12% will spend more and 41% will spend the same as last year.

London, October 21, 2009 – After a long period of financial crisis, the British who had considerably decreased their budget for Christmas last year, remain cautious: 41% of the people interviewed say that they will spend the same amount for Christmas 2009. The recession is not yet over with only 12% saying that they are ready to spend more.

Overall, the British are more cautious this Christmas season than their European counterparts with 43% saying they plan to spend less compared to 41% for Europeans in general.  The Italians are the most pessimistic with 50% saying they plan to reduce their budget.  The Netherlands are the most optimistic with only 31% saying that they will be spending less.

Nevertheless, with a budget of 354 £ (400€) for Christmas, British online shoppers spend more than their Europeans neighbours, compared to an average of 314 € for the general European budget.  Second in line are the Spanish with a budget of 364 €, and the Netherlands who celebrate Saint Nicolas rather than Christmas have the smallest budget at 182€.

Attention to prices thanks to the ability to compare prices online.
During this difficult period, the majority of online shoppers plan to pay more attention to prices: 83% of British and 86% of Europeans says. The Italians have an even higher percentage of 96%

In fact, 80% of British and 74% of Europeans look more than ever to comparing prices online, then buy online or in even in physical shops.  The Spanish see a 10% increase of this practice compared to 2008.

For Christmas 2009, European consumers expect to spend compared to 2008…

Answers to the same question in 2008: For Christmas 2008, how much do you plan to spend compared to 2007?

The Budget for Christmas shopping in the different countries

Shopping on a limited budget, consumers will…

Methodology
The recession, will it pass or will we still feel it this Christmas season? To answer to this question Twenga has asked over 3000 European internet users what are their budget for the holidays this year and how they intend to spend it.  The study was conducted online by Novamétrie for Twenga from a representative sample of 3027 European internet users from the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands between October 6th and 13th 2009.

With Christmas coming only in a few weeks, many of us are starting to plan our weekends accordingly for the holiday shopping season and trying to find appropriate gifts for all our friends, families and acquaintances.

To make your life easier and make sure Christmas 2008 will be a fully enjoyable, stress-free holiday, we created a Christmas shopping guide for your teenager at Twenga that will help you:
-    Save time
-    Avoid the crowded shopping centres
-    Find the right gift
-    Make sure you get it at the best price

On this guide, you will find relevant gift ideas of gifts for babies, teenagers and even a guide for buying champagne!

Who said Christmas shopping should be stressful ?