Online retail sales topped £3bn in one month for the first time in November, as more than 25 million consumers turned to the internet for their Christmas shopping.
E-retailing industry group IMRG estimates that almost £3.3bn was spent online in November, a rise of close to 45 per cent on the same time last year.
Internet sales were more than half a billion pounds higher than October and the increase was more than 10 times the average £50m increase.
Online shopping is hugely attractive for consumers, particularly at Christmas, says IMRG chief executive James Roper.
'The November values are in line with our earlier forecasts and confirm that we are likely to see a total of £7 billion being spent online by UK shoppers in the 10-week run-up to Christmas,' he said.
'Though no longer a surprise, growth of this magnitude is nevertheless breathtaking.
'In 2000, the first year in which the IMRG collected hard online sales data, Christmas trading was worth well under half a billion pounds, and we thought that was huge at the time,' said Roper.
The figures show internet retail getting into its stride, with huge potential for long-term growth, he says.
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