IMRG report Boxing Day online sales are set to surpass the £1 billion mark. IMRG shows that online retail spend on Boxing Day will rise 7.9 per cent to £1.03 billion, compared to last year’s record of £954 million. IMRG also predicted that 40 per cent of spend will happen through mobile transactions.

IMRG predicting Christmas Day will reach £840 million, which represents a 6.3 per cent uplift on 2016 Christmas Day when £795 million in online sales was recorded.

IMRG managing director Justin Opie comments,

Of this year’s predicted Christmas sales, IMRG expects 44 per cent – or £370 million – would be done via mobile. On those days we usually see a higher share of sales going through smartphones, as people are away from desktops visiting family. Boxing Day sales remain a fixture of retail and an important day in the calendar, but Black Friday has altered sales patterns over the full peak period and is now the primary discounting event of the season. Perhaps, as with Black Friday, we’re seeing Boxing Day spend become more online-focused.

Although going out to the shops on that day has long been a British tradition, footfall was reportedly down 7.3 per cent on Boxing Day last year – it’s likely that spend on Christmas Day is pulling some of that order volume forward as well, as shoppers have the ability to browse and buy from the sofa on mobile devices during quiet moments at home and visiting family, redeeming the huge numbers of gift cards and coupons that they receive in place of presents each year.