Christmas day spending will exceed £1bn for the first time this year amid an online shopping boom, according to new research.
One in four adults will shop on websites on the 25 December, the research from the Centre for Retail Research shows, with 70p in every pound spent on mobile phones as consumers shun family activities in favour of bargain hunting.
This comes as struggling retailers are offering huge discounts on a wider range of items than ever to entice shoppers in the weeks before Christmas, reported in The Telegraph.
Experts said the slump in sales compared to previous years could be down to savvy shoppers waiting until Christmas day to buy things.
£1bn is predicted to be spent on Christmas day this year, up from £895 million last year, with a peak at 11am, after gift vouchers are opened, and at 5pm after afternoon films, the Centre for Retail Research said.
Electronics will be popular buys, while Amazon sales trends show films and song downloads will also be big sellers.
National Trading Standards has also issued a warning to online shoppers after finding they are failing to do basic checks before buying things and therefore putting themselves at risk online.
The NTS survey found that nearly a quarter of shoppers don’t look for reviews of the seller, 22 per cent fail to check the returns policy and 28 per cent fail to look for the padlock symbol in the task bar, which shows the website is secure.
Lord Toby Harris, chairman of National Trading Standards, said: “We all like a bargain and the Boxing Day and January sales can offer some great discounts. However, I urge consumers to take extra care when shopping online at this time of year.
“One dodgy purchase could mean that money you think is being saved, ends up being money lost when items bought don’t meet initial expectations – or materialise at all.”
