The European Cross-Channel Retail Sales Forecast 2013 to 2018 survey also notes that cross-channel sales are more lucrative than online-only sales because for each EUR 1 spent online, EUR 5 are spent in-store, as a result of research online.

UK, French and German total cross-channel sales reached EUR 539 billion in 2013, which accounts for 31% of the total European retail sales. However, cross-channel sales will increase to EUR 920 billion or 44% of total sales by 2018, the same survey informs.

Three quarters of UK consumers will make in-store visits, influencing 89% of all retail sales by 2020, according to the ‘The Future of Retail‘ report issued by O2, a UK carrier and provider of mobile devices. The study also suggests that online sales would fall by as much as EUR 63 billion.

However, 85% of online shoppers in the UK return products to physical stores, while 75% collect items they have bought online from a local store. 7% of all retail sales will be made through click-and-collect services by 2020, according to the same O2 report.

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