December 9, 2005 | posted by Michael Baxter in Uncategorized |

You may recall earlier this week we said “the consumer is back.” Now Mintel have joined the orchestra of angels calling a return to spending.

Mintel reckons the British shopper will spend an extra 10% on pressies this festive season. While Footfall recorded a 7.1% rise in shopping numbers last week over last year.

The snag for conventional retail is this. Firstly Tesco, Asda et al are taking up a bigger slice of the cake, and there’s the net. Mintel says that with broadband proving so popular, 38% of Brits will do some of their Christmas shopping online, compared to 22% last year.