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Today is peak Christmas e-shopping day

Today is set to be Britain’s top day for online shopping, according to an online research company. A report from IMRG estimates that business will peak between 1pm and 2pm when goods worth £14m will be bought. The figure shows a huge jump compared with an average of £4m per hour being spent online in the 10-week run up to Christmas.

James Roper, CEO of IMRG, said: “The online shopping peak is pulled forward each Christmas by millions who rely on the internet for their key shopping items. “Monday 4 December will be the biggest e-sales day of 2006, and it is interesting to note that more than a third of online shopping takes place either before or after traditional shopping hours. “In the evening peak, we estimate that online sales will be worth £11.7m per hour.”

The report highlights that how and when consumers make their e-sales is rapidly changing. In the early years of online shopping, there was just one ‘huge’ peak at lunchtime, as people bought goods via the high-speed internet connections in their workplaces. As domestic broadband connections has boomed, many people are routinely shopping from home either early in the morning or later in the evening. According to IMRG’s report, e-sales in December 2006 will total over £3.55bn and 38% of this online shopping will take place either before 9am or after 6pm.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .