Retail Decisions (ReD) has calculated that internet retail sales in the UK hit £49.8 billion, up 21% from 2008. Overall, up to 33 million consumers made an online purchase last year.

“In 2009 30% of online sales took place in November and December, underlining the importance of the holiday season to retailers,” says Carl Clump, CEO of Retail Decisions. “The top five busiest days of the year, all Mondays, took place over this period. In the UK, Monday, 7th December was the biggest online shopping day of the year, up 16% on 2008 at an estimated £534 million. For the first time in the UK, a post Christmas Monday, 28th December, made it onto the list of top performing online days.”

“Mondays are the busiest online shopping days due to consumers’ price sensitivity,” he added. “Shoppers spend their weekends shopping on the high street, finding the items they want to buy. Then they take to the internet to find the best deal they can for their chosen items.”

“For the first time in ten years, the latest electronic gadgets didn’t make the top spot of the most popular product of the year,” Clump explains. “Necessities such as white goods for the kitchen took the first place followed by laptops, widescreen TVs, digital cameras, games consoles, MP3 players, NetBooks and the iPhone 3G.”

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