Today is expected to be the busiest online shopping day of the year in the UK, with experts forecasting that spending will reach £320m. The internet retail trade body IMRG said it expected the peak time for shopping to be between 1pm and 2pm, as consumers who had done their research on the high street over the weekend logged on to order their gifts. The payment card issuer Retail Decisions (ReD) has forecast that the busiest minute of the day will be 1.31pm - around the time most people get back to their desks after popping to the sandwich shop. It predicts £980,865 will be spent in what has been dubbed a "mega minute". Last year's busiest minute online was 1:09pm on December 10 when UK shoppers spent an estimated £767,500.Online sales records are being broken each year as more and more consumers start to feel comfortable shopping over the internet and "etailers" adapt to make the experience more convenient. The impact of the credit crunch has forced many consumers to consider cutting costs, and despite recent high street sales some of the best prices for electrical goods and items like books and CDs can still be found online. David Smith, director of operations at IMRG, said: "The internet has become the best place for shoppers looking to make the most out of their squeezed spending resources and find the best prices and products for presents this Christmas. Online has definitely come of age this Christmas." Smith said that although transactions levels were set to soar there would not be as many sales of big-ticket items as in previous years. "Last year people were still buying the larger electrical items like LCD TVs, but that has really dropped off this year," he said.
Most wanted: current bestsellers on Amazon
DVDs: Mama Mia, The Dark Knight, Wall-E
Video games: Mario Kart with Wii Wheel, Official Wii Wheel, Wii Nunchuk Controller
Books: The Tales of Beedle the Bard, by J. K. Rowling; Dear Fatty by Dawn French; Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama
Toys: Silverlit PicooZ Helicopter, Original Rubik's Cube, Top Trumps - Top Gear
Source: 'Busiest online shopping day expected', The Guardian, 08 December 2008
DVDs: Mama Mia, The Dark Knight, Wall-E
Video games: Mario Kart with Wii Wheel, Official Wii Wheel, Wii Nunchuk Controller
Books: The Tales of Beedle the Bard, by J. K. Rowling; Dear Fatty by Dawn French; Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama
Toys: Silverlit PicooZ Helicopter, Original Rubik's Cube, Top Trumps - Top Gear
Source: 'Busiest online shopping day expected', The Guardian, 08 December 2008
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