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Christmas Rakuten

Importance of Christmas day should not be underestimated by retailers says Rakuten's Play.com chief

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By Stephen Lepitak, -

December 25, 2013 | 2 min read

Rakuten’s Play.com managing director Shingo Murakami has highlighted the importance that Christmas Day itself has become to retailers, despite their High Street stores being closed,

Speaking to The Drum, Murakami, said that Christmas Day itself had grown in importance in the golden retail quarter as a result of online shopping growth, with Rakuten's research finding that an average of a third of shoppers going online on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, a figure that rose to half (50 per cent) of those aged between 18 and 25.

“Shoppers understand that although the high street might be closed, they can continue to shop online, especially the younger generations,“ he added. “In particular, tablets, ‘phablets’ and smartphones will be high on gift lists this year and shoppers will undoubtedly be using their new devices to browse and buy online.

“With 15 per cent shopping out of boredom on Christmas Day and an additional 10 per cent looking to accessorise the gifts they have received such as cases or sleeves for tablets, it is important that retailers don’t overlook Christmas as a day to take the foot off the gas. Instead, retailers should continue to entertain shoppers, offering a personalised experience through multiple channels to ensure that they don’t miss out on those looking to indulge in an additional festive treat.”

Reports have suggested that 117 million visits to online retail sites will be made today (Christmas day) with a spike at around 12pm and another near 8pm.

December is expected to break retail website visit records, with over 3 billion expected during the month of December, the largest for a single month.

Christmas Rakuten

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