Xmas shopping: £17m an hour spent on the Net

 

Interent Christmas shoppers are expected to spend £ 17m an hour today in an online Manic Monday'.

Three girls looking at  laptop

Net spend: Tpday is the busiest internet shopping day of the year.

The total outlay will hit £ 417m in 24 hours, making it the busiest internet shopping day of the year, say analysts.

Office workers are likely to make the majority of purchases from their desks, with sales peaking between 1pm and 2pm.

Another busy period will be just after 9am when mothers buy stocking fillers after dropping their children off at school.

Big-selling items are expected to include the Apple iPod Touch, Wii fit, Scalextric, Nerf computer games and LCD TVs.

Over the day sales are expected to average at £17.4m an hour, says a study by the Centre for Retail Research for online retailer Kelkoo.

Today should help internet traders earn £8.9bn this year, nearly a quarter more than last year, the study said.