Leading retail body predicts.
An estimated 4.8 million people will find time on Christmas Day to go online, get out their credit card, and buy a product, according to IMRG, the trade body which represents online retailers.
This is a 9 per cent increase on last year and compares with an estimated 4.5 million people who attend an Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, Baptist or Pentecostal church service on Christmas Day.
It will be the first time that more people have shopped than worshipped on December 25, proving how the internet has rendered the Sunday Trading Laws obsolete. It is also the latest demonstration of how many consumers spend their lives with almost immediate access to the internet, with either a mobile phone, laptop computer or even camera able to surf the web at the touch of a button.
Christian bodies said they were depressed about the increasing trend for consumers to never log off and to never stop spending.
Mike Judge, at the Christian Institute, said: “The internet is a wonderful thing. But these statistics are a very sad reflection of our society.
“They reflect how commercial Christmas has become. People will not find the true meaning of Christmas on the internet looking for a bargain. They will find it by visiting their local church.”
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