£980,000 shopping mega minute arrives for web retailers

Despite continuing gloom on the high street, the UK online shopping industry is rubbing its hands together with glee - today is expected to be the biggest web shopping day of the year.

Payment card issuer and fraud prevention specialist Retail Decisions has forecast the most lucrative minute to be 1.31pm with UK online consumers spending an estimated £980,865 in that minute alone this afternoon.

Retail Decisions forecasts this afternoon's magic minute will see an increase in sales volumes of 25 per cent on the busiest online shopping minute of 2007. During that minute, 1.09pm on 10 December 2007, web retailers took £767,500.

Although sales volumes over the festive period will increase 42 per cent on a like-for-like basis compared to 2007, average transaction values will fall by 10 per cent.

Meanwhile, online entertainment retailer Play.com predicted its own sales today will bring in a sales volume growth of 25 per cent year-on-year.

Not everyone's convinced today will bring out the big spenders, however - earlier predictions from comparison site Kelkoo's MD indicated the online shopping surge will come later as consumers wait for bigger price cuts.