Cisco AppDynamics, a leading provider of Application Observability and Application Performance Monitoring technology, has today announced the findings from a global survey of over 12,000 consumers across 12 countries.

The UK findings – from a sample of 1,001 consumers – reveal a substantial shift towards online shopping this year.

• On average, UK consumers anticipate that three-quarters (76%) of their total spend will take place online rather than traditional in-store purchases.
• The top reasons cited for increasing the online proportion of their holiday shopping spend were more choice online than in stores (38%) and avoiding last minute panic shopping (31%).

Timing proved to be a huge factor for UK consumers – 21%of whom said they had less time for big holiday / Christmas shopping trips this year. For almost one in four (24%), the biggest driver for online shopping was being able to shop outside of normal retail hours or at convenient times on their phones. A further 15% admitted to doing their holiday shopping during working hours.

For online retailers, this represents a huge opportunity to attract new customers and drive revenues. And so for IT teams, there is intensifying pressure to deliver and ensure seamless digital experiences.

• And 80% say it doesn't matter how good the deals are that retailers are offering, there is still no excuse for poor online shopping experiences. 
• Ultimately, 57% of consumers state that retail brands will have one shot to impress them this holiday season, and if their digital service or application doesn't perform, then they won't be using them again.
• However, despite a strong preference for online, 65% of consumers report that if the applications and digital services they use fail to perform, they will be more inclined to go back to shopping in-store.