As predicted, spending on Christmas of 2008 went up by 21%, a significant increase when compared with December 2007 according to Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG), the body which represents online retailers,

According to IMRG, John Lewis enjoyed its busiest hour online on record at 1900 GMT on Christmas Eve, shortly after the start of its clearance sale. On Christmas Day itself, visitor numbers to the site were 12 times higher than in 2007.

Many factors contributed to this massive increase in online spending including the fact that the sales started earlier than usual in 2008