As most merchants know, the retail industry differs from region to region. The policies, strategies and sales tactics suited to one city may not be appropriate for another, and this holds particularly true when dealing with international merchandising. Yet despite the United Kingdom's lack of the Thanksgiving holiday, the promotional weekend that typically follows it also experienced a considerable boost this year. 

According to findings from software personalization firm Peerius, this most recent Cyber Monday was the most intensive online shopping day for U.K. customers ever. Web traffic spiked by 30 percent in comparison to 2012, with mobile hits to ecommerce sites rising by 55 percent in the same period. 

While conversion rates were only marginally up from 2012 – 1.4 percent – this may have been due to the banking glitch experienced by NatWest and RBS. The problem prevented customers from completing their transaction. However, Peerius suggested that ecommerce sales may see another uptick as consumers resume purchasing their items. 

With shopping trends associated with one region or holiday potentially reaching other markets, retailers should deploy point of sale software that can readily adapt to the evolution of customers' spending habits. 

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Tuesday, December 17th, 2013 at 12:05 pm .