There is a TV ad for a website dating service, that says 1 in 5 relationships now start online.

It’s likely that this is representative of the bigger picture: today we are embracing the net for all our activities. We’re shopping for everything online – not just for a partner!

All this has put a broad smile on the faces of the cardboard box makers: over 1 billion parcels were shipped to fulfil online purchases in the UK last year.

The latest figures show the awesome power of e-retail, and the business potential you gain by having a great website.

UK e-retail sales rose 16% in 2011, and are expected to rise 13% this year, making the UK the largest e-retail economy in Europe.

Last year, online shopping accounted for 17% of all UK retail sales.

Online shopping is now happening through a greater variety of channels, and is no longer an evening-at-home activity. Increasingly, we are using our drivetime to shop online. We take our phones and iPads to browse on the train, in the car, on the bus. Shopping via mobile devices has risen from 0.4% of total e-retail to 5.3% in just 2 years.

We seem to be particularly happy to do our food shopping online. No more drives to the supermarket, no more Saturday morning push ‘n shove, no more trolley with a wonky wheel and a mind of its own!

It all goes to show that an eye-catching and well-designed website is an investment that pays for itself – many times over!

from butterCloudHQ