Have you started yours yet?

Save yourself a trip out in to the cold busy streets and join the other 56 per cent of shoppers who are planning to do their Christmas shopping online this year.

Over £10bn of spending is expected to be up for grabs by online retailers as over half of consumers are planning to spend more than half of their budget online.

Each person’s individual budget for the festive season is expected to be £375 meaning that the total UK Christmas budget is over £18bn.

This year will mark the first year where more than half of spending will be done so online – yet there are still some frustrations for many shoppers.

Just under two thirds of shoppers have said they were disappointed with something from their online Christmas shopping experience last year, according to a new study by Rackspace Hosting.

Issues that have annoyed customers include complicated check out procedures and slow websites, which have meant that many people have chosen to either abandon their purchase or try a different website.

Jeff Cotton, MD of Rackspace, said: “It’s clear from our findings that UK consumers are increasingly going online to shop and with the competition high for that £10bn, online retailers can’t afford to lose custom due to frustrations caused by slow website or check-outs.

“People will be relying on being connected over the holiday period and businesses need to ensure their websites have the support structures in place to cope with the surges of traffic and festive demand.”