A record £831,000 was spent online in only one minute yesterday.
Sales peaked at 1.15pm in what has been dubbed Mega Monday as shoppers took to the internet to secure gifts in time for delivery well before Christmas Day.
Sales levels have been steadily increasing since Sunday 28th November, with today's sales far higher than that of Monday 29th, which was called Cyber Monday in the US.
Amazon workers pack goods ready for shipping at the Amazon distribution centre, Swansea, Wales. Today is the biggest day for online shopping in the year
The first week in December is thought to see the peak in online buying, because it comes after people have received their November salaries but before they are too worried to buy online in case their gift does not arrive in time.
The £1million mark was passed at 12.58pm, when 128 transactions per second were processed by retailers. In last year’s busiest minute, on December 7, £732,000 was spent.
Research carried out by eDigitalResearch recently found that 26.6% of people intend to do more shopping online than they did last year.
Analysis published by the IMRG, the UK trade association for online retailers, forecasted a £0.5bn online spending binge on Sunday December 5 and Monday December 6, and that total online spending for the Christmas period, over the course of November and December will be £12.4bn.
The volume of buying over the internet has been boosted this year by the extreme cold and snow, which has kept many buyers from venturing onto high streets.
eBay attributed their record-breaking Super Sunday sales figures to the weather. Sales on the UK's site were up 18% on the same day last year with around 17 gifts being purchased every second.
Jody Ford, Director of SME Businesses, eBay UK said: 'It’s encouraging to see sales up so considerably, despite the tough economic climate.
'We tend to see a sharp rise in sales on the first Sunday in December as people start to think about their Christmas shopping list, although this year’s cold snap has clearly led to even more people choosing to shop without the hassle of the high-street.'
David Smith, Managing Director at IMRG, said: ‘2010 looks set to be another bumper year for online, with sales for Super Sunday and Mega Monday estimated to reach over half a billion at the end of a week when the festive spend really kicked in.
'We estimate that £6.4bn will be spent in December alone, with total online sales for November and December set to reach £12.4bn.
'Consumers have looked to spread the costs of Christmas a bit more this year due to the economic climate, but December 6th is the day that our retailers expect sales activity to be at its highest.’
The most popular gifts being snapped up by internet shoppers are the Mini Micro T-bar Scooter, the Nintendo Wii Fit Plus game, Lego’s Winter Toy Workshop and the Apple iPod Touch, according to analysis by online fraud prevention company Retail Decisions.
Robin Goad, Research Director at Hitwise UK, said: 'Last weekend was certainly the busiest of the pre-Christmas season so far this year, but the clue that we are not quite there yet is the comparison between traffic levels on Sunday (November 28th) and Monday (November 29th).
‘For most of the year, UK Internet visits to retailers peak on the Sunday and drop off on the Monday, and only on Mega Sunday / Monday do the traffic levels match. This didn’t happen this Sunday and Monday, implying that Mega Monday is still to come.’
But retailers were warning consumers not to get carried away online and to be vigilant against fraud.
Dominic Blackburn, Product Director of
192.com said: 'It’s easy to get carried away in the Christmas rush, but if legitimate e-retailers are going to be busy, then so will fraudsters.
'If you’re buying from members of the public or from small businesses, we urge you check out their validity as businesses or their identity as individuals – and the best way of doing that is by confirming their address. If their address cannot be found there is reason to question their authenticity.'
Selfridges said its online sales soared 50 per cent last week, while John Lewis said sales through its website were up 62.2 per cent.
A mass of white in North America and across much of Britain and Europe shows the dense network of friends built up on the social networking site. 
