The British spent 26.5 billion for online purchases

According to the recent study of uSwitch, an independent site dealing with the comparison of the prices, the volume of the retail sales in UK has dropped to the lowest mark since 1986, however the online purchases show the opposite results: during the first half of 2008 the volume of online sales have reached a record level of GBP 26.5 billion. By 2020 it is expected that estimate GBP will be 163 billion. 

The figures show that today UK is one of leaders of European e-commerce and has the largest volume of online shopping and the highest growth rate for online transactions. A 75% increase in the total volume registered between 2005 and 2007 is an incontestable proof. It is expected that by 2026 the online shopping will overtake a traditional High Street shopping and represent the most part of the sales. 

One of the reasons of such success is believed to be a critical decrease in the trust of the consumers to credit cards.