As festivities get going in earnest, DAC Europe President David Jowett was interviewed for eMarketer’s latest report, titled UK Holiday Season Shopping Preview 2016.

The report draws from original research as well as the knowledge of marketing and retail experts to look into projected festive shopping behaviours of UK consumers in 2016. As shoppers become more and more influenced by digital, the report is able to outline not just how much will be spent, but where and how these customers will be shopping this Christmas.

One key point of interest is the reliance the British market has on eCommerce in the lead up to the big day. eCommerce sales will account for one fifth of all sales, twice that reported in the States.

Imports from across the pond such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, coupled with the rise of mobile have made festive sales season longer and more competitive than ever. Retailers need a robust strategy to target consumers across multiple channels.

“If you are a brand, you’re trying to connect with customers at all touchpoints. You’re trying to push them down the customer journey,” David said in the report. “As long as you are structured to deliver against an ecommerce or click-and-collect or a physical store model, you probably don’t care where your sales come from in this current market.”

The full report is available to all eMarketer subscribers online. DAC will be hosting a webinar to review the trends and findings later this month.