December 2008: According to figures released by Realex Payments, online sales peaked on Monday, December 1st with over 112,000 transactions valued at €22.6Million processed the company, equating to over €942,000 spent per hour by online shoppers!

The online channel appears to bucking the current downward trends by continuing to experience positive growth figures; Realex Payments has processed transactions valued at a staggering €4.9Billion for the year to date, increasing from €3.4Billion for the same period in 2007.

Despite challenging economic conditions globally, the online industry is still on the up, with the number of transactions processed by Realex Payments increasing by almost 31% over the same period in 2007. So far in 2008, the company has processed in excess of 26 million transactions, up from 18 million transactions for the same period last year. The growth in online sales is further reinforced by the recent announcement of US internet retailing company creating 200 jobs at its European base in Galway.

The company estimates that by year end they will have processed in excess of 30 Million transactions – taking into account seasonal high transaction volumes which will be experienced in December. "Cyber Monday” as it's referred to in the online trade, is the Monday after "Black Friday" in the USA (the day after Thanksgiving). Cyber Monday is one of the last days to shop online ensuring delivery prior to Christmas.

Colm Lyon, Founder and Managing Director of Realex Payments commented “the online market place offers a huge opportunity for organisations to reach new customers and increase sales in new regions, which is particularly important in challenging times we’re currently experiencing. It’s not only large businesses that can benefit from the online sales channel, the internet enables companies of all sizes to sell to the global marketplace in a cost effective manner.”

Key highlights:

• On Monday, December 1st, Realex Payments processed over 112,000 transactions valued at €22.6million - almost one million euro per hour spent online in one day.
• This figure is €10million more than the peak figure last year, when on ‘Cyber Monday’ (December 8th 2007), Realex Payments processed transactions valued at €12.7Million.
• Consumers are spending more online - the average transaction value on Monday December 1st was €202 up from a high of €168 in 2007.
• Realex Payments has processed transactions valued at almost €5Billion euro so far in 2008
• In 2008 the average value of transactions processed per day by Realex Payments has almost doubled reaching €15.3million in comparison the average daily spend online in 2007 was €7.9 million.
• The number of people starting to sell online is also increasing, Realex Payments sign up on average 82 new clients each month, but peaking at 104 clients in October, reinforcing the fact that the online channel is still a very attractive option for most businesses to increase sales. 

• Charity Donations: Despite the economic slow down, people are still showing their charitable side, with online donations to charities increasing by 45%. Annual trends indicate that charitable donations peak around the Christmas period, so statistics for December should further reinforce this.
• Online retail: The online marketplace offers more opportunity for consumers to seek out a bargain and as such the sector has seen an increase of 40% over the same period in 2007. Over 1.5 million transactions made through online retailers.  
• Insurance: The number of insurance policies purchased online (both car and health insurance policies) increased by 41%. With many insurance companies offering big discounts for purchasing via their website, more and more people are purchasing their insurance online.
• Utilities: Regardless of any economic downturn, people still need to pay their gas, electricity, and other utility bills. The number of consumers paying their utility bills online or via their utility provider’s call centre has increased by over 100%. 
• Online Travel & holidays: despite difficult conditions for many involved in the travel sector, there is still a substantial amount of flights, hotel rooms and holidays being sold online, figures from Realex Payments show an increase of 46% in the number of bookings made online. Tied to this online , online car rentals also showed an increase of 43%.