Snowed in Brits turn to online shopping- Ukash

Ukash, the international provider of online payments with cash, reported a growth in sales of its prepaid vouchers yesterday, as millions of UK workers were homebound after the heavy snowfall turned to shopping and entertainment online.

Year-on-year figures reflect a 79% increase in transactions online made using Ukash compared to the same day in 2008. The first Monday of February is often a poor day for retailers and providers of retail solutions such as Ukash, as the December and January spending hits consumers' pockets. However, the heavy snow fallen in the UK bumped the figures of redemption of Ukash across most retail sectors yesterday. A gaming site specialised in poker games saw a 96% increase in transactions with Ukash, followed closely by the 80% growth registered by a betting site. Bingo also enjoyed a peak yesterday, with a 81% growth, however the greatest surge was registered in VoIP (202%) as the UK turned to internet calling to share the extraordinary weather news with friends and family in the UK and abroad.

Mark Chirnside, CEO of Ukash, puts this excellent performance down to Ukash's wide availability and convenience: "With a large number of us unable to travel, local stores became by far the most convenient stations for the provision of goods yesterday. Four in five Ukash vouchers are acquired from convenience stores in the UK and, with the prospect of being 'homebound' in mind, customers had a perfect excuse to get down to their corner shop and get a convenient and safe way to spend a fun day shopping and playing online alone or with family."

Ukash prepaid vouchers are a safe and convenient way to spend online as they allow customers to pay without having to disclose sensitive financial information. Ukash is available from 275,000 locations throughout Europe and South Africa and also via Vodafone mobiles in the UK.   A recent research showed Ukash's average customer in the UK is in full time employment, has a bank account and a credit or debit card but prefers alternative and safer payment methods to transact online.