Internet shopping is expanding at the fastest rate in six years, effectively shrugging off the gloom being witnessed on the high street. According to Verdict research, online spending on retail purchases went up by 35 per cent to touch £14.7bn last year. Also, the number of web-based shoppers reached an all-time high. In fact, the rate of growth registered is nearly 10 times that of the total UK retail market.

This growth is all set to continue owing to faster broadband. Online retail is predicted to increase to £44.9bn in the next four years, amounting to 13.8 per cent of total spend. According to the research, the number of online shoppers increased 24.7 per cent to 22.6 million.

In spite of some degree of ‘cannibalisation’ - people opting to switch to the Internet to purchase what they would previously have visited the local shops for - physical shopping is still far from doomed, Verdict pointed out. It mentioned:

In many instances, in-store and online and sales channels will actually blur into one, and will become fully integrated.