New Royal Mail research suggests that UK online shoppers are set to spend nearly £292 each buying goods online this Christmas.

The research from Royal Mail suggests that around 30% of online shoppers started making their purchases before or during October. The majority of Christmas shopping however takes place between November 15 and December 13. It also revealed that men will spend more online than women (£304 vs £271). Two in five UK online shoppers spend more in 2017 than in 2016.

Amongst UK online shoppers’ favourites were clothes (54%), books (46%), digital media (42%), toiletries / cosmetics (32%) and 31% bought toys. The average gift people buy costs £42, and on average people receive seven presents.

UK online shoppers choose online for convenience. Sixty-three per cent said that it was because they could shop from home, while 63% said they could shop at any time of day. Forty eight per cent said that they shopped online so they could compare prices. Most used laptops (59%) while 34 used smartphones.