As the festive period approaches, pundits are lining up to forecast how much money will be spent online buying gifts and making other festive purchases in preparation for Christmas. 

The latest is Deloitte, which estimates online Christmas sales will increase by 10 percent this year — a figure in line with predicted growth across the past 12 months. The consultancy puts total online spend this year at £4.7bn, also a 10 percent rise year on year. 

Although it is still growing, commentators have predicted online shopping is beginning to slow — a recent Capgemini IMRG e-Retail Sales Index report noted web sales grew by 54 percent in the last quarter of 2007 and just 15 percent in the corresponding quarter this year.
 
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