Shopping online for goods and having them delivered by UK courier has become a natural activity for UK consumers, according to digital marketing software company Kenshoo's latest report.

The 2011 retail study is the first focused specifically on the UK and revealed a number of interesting statistics about the region's burgeoning ecommerce market.

Online sales made in the week before Christmas generated 74 per cent more revenue for retailers than it did last year, indicating an increasing faith in UK delivery services from last-minute shoppers.

Chris Ward, managing director of Europe for Kenshoo, said consumers in Britain were shopping less often but more discerningly.

"Shoppers ramped up their spending during the last few weeks before Christmas, making the most of last-minute online bargains, just as retailers' search budgets were beginning to dwindle," Mr Ward added.

Dr Andrew Spence, an economic advisor to PricewaterhouseCoopers, recently told Declan Curry in a BBC On The Money podcast that people in the UK were likely to turn to ecommerce in a bid to find value for money amid grim economic predictions.

Author:  Gillian Walters