Manic Monday!

While shopping on the High Street won’t peak for almost a month – hitting its high mark on Saturday December 18, one week before Christmas – today will be the most lucrative of the year for online retailers, with customers spending an average of £22.4million every hour.

According to the research by shopping comparison website Kelkoo and the Centre for Retail Research, Brits are expected to spend £11.5 billion on internet shopping this Christmas – an increase of 29%, or £2.6billion, on last year’s figure.

That’s the equivalent to 17p in every pound of Christmas shopping, reinforcing the fact that online sales are an increasingly important part of the economy. A study backed by Google last month suggested that the online economy was worth a total of £100billion to the UK, with £60billion of that coming from online shopping.

Almost two-thirds of the average UK household Christmas budget, £417 (62%), will be spent on gifts according to the reserach, with festive food and drink second at £177.80 (26%), followed by travel costs (£42.26 or 6%) and Christmas decorations (£36.50 or 5%).

Gadgets and consumer electronics is expected to be the second most popular category of gift, according to the research, accounting for £102 or 24% of the household gift budget – second only to Clothing and footwear, on £120 or 29%.

Kelkoo chief executive Richard Stables said: ‘This is the most important day in an e-tailers’ calendar. Online retailers can see sales rise by up to 60% in the six weeks running up to Christmas compared to the rest of the year, and at no time is this more evident than on Manic Monday.’