Brits geared up for Boxing Day shopping blitz

Wednesday, December 26, 2012 - 10:21 by Sarah Collinson

Although the run up to Christmas is a pretty hectic time for safe shopping online, it seems that many UK consumers save up for an online retail spree on Boxing Day.

New reports from IMRG and Experian have shown that about 472.5 million will be spent online today, with December 26th outpacing every other 24 hour period this year.

There will be around 126 million visits made to e-commerce sites, which is up by almost a third when compared to the same day in 2011.

In terms of the actual time we spend carrying out safe shopping online, this will have increased by a modest nine per cent, year on year, although the total for the nation will hit 375 million hours throughout December. On Boxing Day, consumers will spend 17 million total hours buying items on e-commerce sites.

Experian spokesperson, James Murray, said that there were no surprises when it came to the record-breaking nature of December's e-commerce figures, since the market has been expanding consistently since it was first created.

People tend to shop online in the wake of Christmas Day itself, often in order to spend money or redeem vouchers they received as gifts, or to purchase products related to the presents that they were given.

December 24th and 25th will also have been big days for e-commerce, with experts estimating that online outlets will have taken a combined total of 532 million.

It may seem strange to some, but it seems that Brits just can't resist using convenient online shopping services to buy products, on days when bricks and mortar stores are generally closed for business.

The prevalence of smartphones and tablets is being cited as a key reason for recent e-commerce market growth, since these devices make online shopping even easier.