ONLINE retailers were the big winners of the battle for consumer spending in the run-up to Christmas, according to new figures.
Around £400m was spent over the internet or telephone using Mastercard credit cards or debit cards during the first three weeks of December, says the company. This was an increase of 17.5% on a year earlier.
In contrast, the high street saw sales rise 2% by value over the same period. It retained its dominant position in the retail sector.
Figures from Mastercard UK show that pre-Christmas spending by debit and credit cards was up 5% at £1.85bn this year.
Paul Lucraft, general manager of Mastercard Europe in the UK, said, Our figures for retail sales paid for with Mastercard and Maestro suggest that stories about an excessively quiet pre-Christmas period on the high street may be wide of the mark, once online and phone sales are taken into account."
The number of credit and debit card transactions was also up on a year ago, with online and phone transactions rising 5.9% compared with the first three weeks of December in 2003.
With online and phone spending having increased by around almost 6%, Mr Lucraft said this also suggests that people were attracted to the ease and simplicity of using a debit or credit card to shop for goods via the internet or phone.
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