Boxing Day sales predicted to attract 126 million website visits from online shoppers
The high street is hoping for a boost as one in ten Britons hit the Boxing Day sales, spending around £2.4 billion.
But many people were not willing to brave to rain and beat the in store queues by turning to online retailers instead, so much so Experian has predicted that Christmas 2012 will be the “biggest and busiest ever” for online retailers. Visits to retail websites were expected to have reached 126 million yesterday, up 31 per cent on 2011.
Figures from Money Supermarket claimed that more than five million people will search for bargains online.
James Murray, the digital insight manager for Experian, told the Telegraph that: “Christmas 2012 is on track to be another record-breaker for online retail, outstripping 2011 on all fronts.
“The current trends suggest that in the UK, Boxing Day will be the biggest day for online retail, with an estimated 126 million visits to online retail outlets and 17 million hours spent online shopping."
The rush began online early this year with many retailers running sales on their websites in the run-up to Christmas and Amazon starting its sale online at 9am on Christmas Day. Amazon is reported to have seen a 263 per cent increase in online activity on Christmas Day over the past five years.