Today as millions of consumers go online to take advantage of Cyber Monday deals, store owners in St Helier are still expecting that shoppers will remain loyal to the high street.
Gerald Voisin, owner of Voisins department store, said he believed the threat of online retail to high street shops had been overstated.
‘The growth of online retail has slowed and if anyone tells you that retail in shops is dead they are talking rubbish,’ he said.
‘Online retail accounts for about 20 per cent of the market, while shops still have an 80 per cent market share.’
The festive shopping period in Jersey officially started at the Christmas lights switch-on last week, and many shops are now open until 9 pm on Thursday and between 10 am and 5 pm on Sundays.
And many shops have already reported strong sales, as well as increased footfall.
‘I think we are going to do really well this Christmas,’ said Jon Holley, owner of Seedee Jons. ‘We have had good sales already. Since we moved back into town from the Powerhouse it has made a real difference and business is booming.
‘I think people are shopping earlier these days, as they don’t want to get caught out,’ he added.
Mr Holley said that his business had adapted to deal with the threat of online competition.
‘I have had to diversify, otherwise my business wouldn’t exist any more. CDs used to be 100 per cent of my business – now they are five per cent,’ he said.
John Dingle, the owner of Fortuna, was also optimistic. ‘We are expecting a very good festive period, especially after the Black Friday which we just had,’ he said.
‘We are well prepared and I think we have the right prices, right team and the marketing in place to do very well.’
He added that he believed high-street retailers just had to ‘roll up their sleeves’ and deal with the threat of online competitors.
Carmel Power, the shop manager at Top Shop Jersey, was also positive.
‘We have done better than last year so far, so I think it should be ok this year,’ she said.
