The British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported a "record" amount of online shopping in December 2013 after shoppers panicked into buying last-minute gifts online helping sales to rise over the festive period.
The BRC and accountants KPMG who conducted the research revealed that there was a 19.2% growth in internet purchases from December 2012, which lead to the fastest increase seen for three years with one in five non-food products bought online.
Helen Dickinson director general of the BRC, said that retailers that had invested in their websites and delivery times helped overall UK retail sales increase by 0.4% on a like-for-like basis.
She went on to say that the figures represented a "respectable overall result" and were in line with the prediction that Christmas trading in 2013 would reflect that “while confidence levels were higher than the previous year, this wasn't always matched by more money in pockets".
It was estimated that £300,000 was spent online every minute on this year's “Cyber Monday” fuelling the boost in online retailing.
