Shoppers favour online for Christmas

This year Britons will spend more money buying presents online than they will on the high street in the run-up to Christmas.

Brits will spend 55 per cent of their Christmas shopping budget on presents bought online, a new survey by Nielsen/NetRatings has found. On average, people will spend £237 online as opposed to £197 on the high street.

Around 70 per cent of Brits will buy presents online this Christmas, according to the research.

With a record-breaking Christmas for e-tailers on the cards, convenience was cited as one of the main reasons for buying presents online, with 34 per cent of those surveyed citing it as a factor. Twenty-three per cent of respondents said they wanted to avoid crowds while 17 per cent hated the idea of queueing.

Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst for Nielsen/NetRatings, told CNET.co.uk's sister site silicon.com that Christmas is a particularly conducive time to use the Internet to shop.

He said: "The convenience of the Internet is particularly relevant and apparent now, compared with any other part of the year."

The survey also revealed that people aged between 35 and 44 will spend the largest proportion of their Christmas present budget online (57 per cent).

Burmaster doesn't see the findings as a real shift in shopping habits but more a reflection of the way in which the Internet is "permeating more and more of daily life". He did, however, suggest that high street shops need to continue to develop their online presence to avoid losing out.