Figures issued by Retail Decisions (ReD) and IMRG show that 2009 online retail sales were at an estimated £49.8 billion, up 21 per cent from 2008.

For the first time in 10 years, the latest electronic gadgets didn't make the top spot of the most popular product of the year. Necessities such as white goods for the kitchen took the first place followed by laptops, widescreen TVs, digital cameras, games consoles, MP3 players, NetBooks and the iPhone 3G.

Carl Clump, CEO at Retail Decisions, comments: "In 2009, 30 per cent of online sales took place in November and December, underlining the importance of the holiday season to retailers. The top five busiest days of the year, all Mondays, took place over this period. In the UK, Monday, 7 December was the biggest online shopping day of the year, up 16 per cent on 2008 at an estimated £534 million. For the first time in the UK, a post Christmas Monday, 28 December, made it onto the list of top performing online days."

"Mondays are the busiest online shopping days due to consumers' price sensitivity. Shoppers spend their weekends shopping on the high street, finding the items they want to buy. Then they take to the internet to find the best deal they can for their chosen items," he adds.

Top performing days of 2009

Monday, 7 December
Monday, 28 December
Monday, 14 December
Monday, 30 November
Monday, 1 December

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