Christmas Day online shoppers were predicted to set a new spending record splashing out an estimated £636m on Thursday.
Shoppers were expected to make 142 million visits to retail sites – a 25 per cent increase over last year.
Sky News reported that research by Experian and online retailing trade association IMRG found Britons would spend around £441,000 a minute.
“The ease of shopping online via connected devices raises the prospect of a very large amount of shopping activity on Christmas Day itself,” said Experian general manager of consumer insight Giles Longhurst.
Dominic Trigg, managing director for Europe of digital advertising technology company Rocket Fuel, said, “Shopping online on Christmas Day is now a normal part of UK consumers’ holiday experiences every year.
“It is clear that UK consumers now see shopping from the comfort of their own home, following Christmas Day dinner, as much of a tradition as a turkey and ham dinner.”
Shoppers had already been enjoying heavy discounting as some stores began their traditional Boxing Day sales up to two days early.
Britain’s retail sector has already been celebrating a record-breaking year as official figures are projecting an all-time high for sales in 2014.
The forecast from the Office of National Statistics shows that sales for the year are expected to reach £342bn – a £48bn increase since 2010.
Pre-Christmas sales were up by 5.2 per cent compared with last year.
