UK internet shoppers to spend £4,000 a second

The internet will be jammed with traffic tomorrow lunchtime as millions of shoppers log on to do their Christmas shopping, making it the biggest spending day ever in the cyber market.

Eager gift buyers are expected to spend £4,000 per second throughout the day on this year's must-haves, which include iPhones.

"It's the biggest day in terms of sales – the first Monday in December is the big day as most people have been paid," said David Smith, director of operations at IMRG, the industry body for online retailers, which predicts that consumers will spend £350m tomorrow, almost 10% up on last year.

The majority of sales are likely to be made by office workers taking advantage of faster broadband speeds at work – with traffic expected to spike between 9am and 10am and again at lunchtime on what is referred to as cyber Monday.

"Everyone decides what they are going to buy over the weekend then goes to work on Monday, gets on the computer and makes their purchases," said Andy Street, managing director of John Lewis, which expects sales of £4.5m on the day – five times more than a normal Monday.


IMRG said consumers had not been put off shopping online by the recent Royal Mail strikes.

While the crowds on high streets and in shopping centres across the UK will not peak until the final Saturday before Christmas, internet sales do so earlier to factor in delivery times.

Consumers are now as happy buying clothing and homeware online, with M&S and Next among the most searched for, whereas previously consumers stuck to safe online purchases such as books, fridges and TVs.