And the UK’s biggest ever online shopping day is…

Forget the January sales, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it appears that Boxing Day is the UK’s biggest ever online shopping day.

The latest report from Experian Hitwise, reveals that there were 96 million visits to UK retail sites on 26th December 2011 which represented an increase of 19.5% in comparison to the same day in 2010. The nation spent a collective 13 million hours online instead of watching TV reruns and eating leftovers from the Christmas dinner!

And reasons for the extreme increase? They point towards avoidance of the hectic high street and the ease of ordering online alongside the huge discounts, free postage and next day delivery options.

However, despite record breaking numbers on the first day of the clearance sales, the number of shoppers hitting the high street was down year on year with footfall reduced post the Christmas period as well as on New Year's Day.