Net shoppers get ready for Xmas

With just over two months to go before Christmas, early shoppers are already rushing to the internet to find gifts.

Traffic to shopping sites, including auctions, flowers and gifts and accessories, accounted to 8.06 per cent off all online traffic during September, the latest stats show.

According to internet measurement company Hitwise, traffic to online shopping sites reached its highest point of the year in September with an increase of 44 per cent compared with the same period last year.

The leading shopping sites in September include auction site eBay (gathering 24.9 per cent of the traffic) Amazon with 5.68 per cent and eBay Shops with 3.03 per cent.

Hitwise also reveals that shoppers spent the most time surfing on supermarket sites including Tesco (21 minutes and 51 seconds) Sainsburys (21 minutes and 13 seconds) and Waitrose (17 minutes).