The Growth In Online Shopping Is... INTERNET BUSINESS NEWS-(C)1995-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The growth in online shopping is to continue through the busy Christmas season, according to Hitwise, an online competitive intelligence service.

Hitwise analysis reveals that UK Internet users will rely even more on online shopping for Christmas gift buying this year and predicts that the online retail sector will grow 25% in share of visits from July 2005 to December 2005, representing a 12% year-on-year increase since December 2004. According to Hitwise, visits to online retailers will peak the week ending 3 December 2005, with more than 1 in every 7 internet visits going to online retailers that week.