E-shopping business in the UK can count on Christmas shoppers turning to the internet this year, it is reported. It is estimated that towards christmas online sales will be up to 15% higher than last year, as people try to save as much money as they can during the credit crunch.

The data are from IMRG and Capgemini, reflecting data from 60 British online retail sites. The groups said that a total of 13.16 billion pounds will be spent by British shoppers in the fourth quarter of 2008 -- or 215 pounds for every person in the UK.

The survey predicted online sales of clothing, footwear and accessories sales will be beating the economic downturn and rising more than 25 percent.

The group does not that while the figures are 15% higher than the same quarter last year, they show a slowdown in growth compared with the 54% year-on-year increase seen in 2007.