Pan-European electrical goods retailerDSG Internationalbecame the first
large high-street shop to report a big profit drop following a
Christmas season that saw more shoppers than ever before turn to
the internet to hunt down and buy bargains.
In an unscheduled trading statement, DSG, formerly Dixons, said
it would miss analysts' forecasts by up to £50m due to a drop in
sales of computers and weaker-than-expected demand for laptops.
Analysts had been expecting the group, which owns Curry's and PC
World, to report profits between £290m and £300m for the year to
April.
FootFall, a
subsidiary of credit agency Experian that counts consumer visits to
physical shops, said more were shopping "tactically" to take
advantage of discounts and online offerings. Its figures for
December showed a 2.8% drop in shopper numbers compared to 2006,
and a month-on-month increase of just 6.5%. This confirmed the
underlying trend of falling footfall seen throughout 2007, it
said.
Experian spokesman Martin Davies said the traditional six-week
seasonal shopping period replaced with just two peak weekends and
increased internet shopping. "However, falling footfall does not
necessarily mean falling sales," he said. Consumers can now buy
from the internet, supermarkets or retail parks where everything is
contained under one roof.
Actinic, a retail
analyst, said its survey of 34 UK retailers showed a 27% rise in
the number of customers buying online last Christmas compared to
2006. Internet sales were up 46%, suggesting more consumers are
happy to spend more online.
E-commerce was making a greater contribution to the bottom line
compared with other channels, it said. Companies that traded both
online and offline, reported that on average, just over 50% of
sales in November and December were made online, compared with only
30% in 2006.