UK Retailers' Christmas Gamble Fails As Stock-Outs Could Cost 1.87bn Pounds Sterling In Lost Opportunities This Christmas

LONDON, Dec. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A research report sponsored by NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N), the industry's leading provider of cloud-based financials / ERP software suites, today revealed that UK retailers could lose an estimated £147 million of revenue this Christmas due to missed sales opportunities through out-of-stock products, and an additional £1.7 billion to their competitors, as consumers shop elsewhere for their Christmas gifts. The research is based on economic models provided by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) and primary research with UK retail businesses, and a nationally representative study of 2,000 UK consumers conducted by Vanson Bourne. The findings are available for free download as part of NetSuite's latest retail report The Christmas Gamble at www.thechristmasgamble.co.uk.

The research found that the average retailer is losing 10 percent of its Christmas revenue to out -of-stock situations:

• More than half of retailers surveyed (66 percent) were out-of-stock of particular products last Christmas, with clothing (52 percent), food and drink (44 percent) and electrical goods (44 percent) most commonly out-of-stock. With 41 percent of consumers surveyed stating that they plan to go to a competing website or retailer to get the Christmas gift they want, retailers are set to lose as much as £1.7 billion to competitors this Christmas.
• On average, retailers who were affected by stock-outs could not fulfill 21 percent of Christmas orders due to a lack of product availability – leading to a potential overall revenue loss of £147 million through missed sales opportunities.

A truly multi-channel Christmas, but online product availability hampers retailers' revenues

UK consumers are now looking for a true, multi-channel experience and this Christmas will see the average consumer conducting 43 percent of their shopping in-store and 57 percent online according to the study. Mobile shopping will also play a key role in driving sales this festive season; almost 20 percent of consumers say they will shop through a mobile device this Christmas, and almost one in 10 of consumers under the age of 35 said that their mobile device is their primary shopping tool. A quarter of consumers surveyed also plan to spend more on their Christmas shopping this year, with 68 percent expecting to spend more online compared to in store. 

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