The value of online shopping continues to break its own records with the IMRG announcing that last month UK consumers had spent £5.4bn.

The IMRG Capegemini e-Retail sales Index found that throughout November shoppers spent approximately 65 per cent more than they spent during the same period in 2006, and 22.5 per cent more than they had spent in October 2007. Predictably, the purchasing of Christmas presents is the cause of much of this growth, the firms said.

The report said that improvements in ordering, fulfillment and delivery meant that UK shoppers were a lot more confident about ordering their items later in the year. Creating the spike in November, gifts accounted for seventy per cent of all sales during the month.

Announcing the results, Jo Evans managing director at the IMRG, said, "We expect the online spend figure to be even higher [in December] as people do their last minute shopping." Anthoula Madden, vice president of the Capgemini Consumer Products and Retail Team, added, "Retailers need to be able to monitor their sales activity and be prepared for this late surge in demand, ensuring that there is enough stock, storage and delivery capacity to meet consumer needs."