Visits to the top ten online UK retailers grew by an average of 37% year-on-year through the Christmas period, according to Nielsen Online.

uniquedigital’s client Littlewoods, which ranked sixth, was the fastest growing site in the top ten after it saw a 66% year-on-year increase. Asda (8th overall) grew by 53% over the Christmas period while Marks & Spencer (5th) saw a 46% increase.

“We are pleased with our trading performance during the Christmas period and particularly with the continued growth of our online business as this becomes the shopping channel of choice for many of our new and existing customers,” says chief executive of Shop Direct, Mark Newton-Jones. “We believe the retail outlook in 2009 will be difficult. However, we will continue to invest in and improve our broad range of products, our online platform and our customer service, whilst continuing to offer our customers flexible payments terms,” he added.

Alex Burmaster, communications director of Nielsen Online, said, “Online retail won’t be impervious to the tighter financial environment but it has an opportunity to weather the storm better than other elements of the economy, particularly if retailers promote the web as the best way of finding cheaper goods in the most efficient and convenient way possible.”

In stark contrast, high street retailers had their Christmas ever, with sales diving 3.3% on last year. The IMRG Capgemini e-retail Sales Index revealed that the number of people preferring to spend online over the high street had risen 14.2% on the year. With two thirds of shoppers having spent more online this Christmas and a third of shoppers doing more than half their present shopping online, Shop Direct clearly took advantage of a bustling sector, it reported that in the six weeks to January 2, they delivered over 7 million items in the UK through its distribution arm Home Delivery Network and total group sales grew 9% during the period.

Chris Dutton