Cyber Monday expected to have boosted online shopping

On December 4, known as Cyber Monday in the U.K., consumers may have spent as much as £19 million every hour on internet purchases, during what was expected to be the busiest day of the year for ecommerce, the Daily Mail reported. Within just 24 hours, an estimated £456 million was spent, with peak shopping hours occurring during typical lunch breaks around 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.

Research from Experian predicted U.K. shoppers will spend an average of eight hours and 45 minutes shopping for more Christmas presents online in the remaining weeks leading up to Christmas.

"Christmas 2011 looks set to be another record-breaker for many of the online sectors and particularly for retail," said James Murray, marketing research analyst at Experian.

But delivery of online purchases has posed a problem for consumers in the past. According to Talk Finance UK, online consumers have two weeks to put in orders to ensure they are delivered before Christmas. Amazon's free delivery option is set to expire December 18, and the Post Office is advising consumers to get packages delivered before December 14 if they plan to use the standard parcels service.