• Christmas comes early in the UK as online revenue grows by 13%, compared to 7% for the Euro zone
• 27% growth in UK online sales, comparing November 2012 with November 2011

London, UK - December 2012 - Payment services provider (PSP), Computop, has analysed payment patterns across its global network, which handles $7 billion annually in turnover for global retailers.  Data show that online sales in the UK outstrip those in the Euro zone by almost half when comparing the same sample, between October and November 2012. 

UK demonstrates revenue growth
When comparing online revenues in Q2 to Q3, UK sales are up, with orders increasing by 17% on last quarter, average basket values have dropped by 4%, meaning that actual revenues only grew by 10%. 

Key Euro zone findings

• Online sales in the Euro zone are stagnant.  Orders only grew by 1%, whilst average basket values decreased by 1%The
• industry to take the largest hit is the automotive sector with 8% decrease in orders and -4% drop in turnover
• Sectors weathering the storm are food (+7%), health and beauty (+4%)

Christmas comes early for the UK
Christmas shoppers have been buying earlier than normal to take advantage of aggressive discounting and voucher codes.  Order volumes in the UK climbed by 12% in November, compared with October and turnover increased by 7%.

Electronics was by far the most buoyant sector, achieving 16% growth in turnover.  Fashion and lifestyle products also demonstrated healthy turnover in November 2012, showing 12% and 11% respective growth.

November 2012 vs. November 2011 comparisons
November 2012 data shows 27% growth in sales for the UK, compared to November 2011. Although this is significantly more growth than Euro zone, the UK also shows a 22% drop in basket values compared to November 2011, meaning that overall, turnover for UK retailers dropped by 4%.

Despite flat-lining sales within the Euro zone between October and November, it still shows significant growth. Compared to November 2011 the number of orders grew by 20%, however, due to a 4% drop in basket values, revenues only grew by 12% in November 2012.

Methodology
Computop is a leading global payment service provider (PSP) with offices in the UK, Germany and the USA.  For the purposes of this research, Computop analysed the number of orders as well as basket values and turnovers of 2,000 international online retailers that use the Computop Paygate payment platform. The analysis compared the same retailers in each period.