The latest IMRG e-Customer Service Index predicted this week that Monday December 7th would be the busiest online shopping day this year, with shoppers bagging bargains for Christmas and spending a total of £350 million on wares in 24 hours.

Following this report, director of eDigitalResearch Chriss Russell said there has been a seismic shift in online shopping habits in the last few years which has led to this boom.

He explained that smart devices, such as iPhones, have worked "sufficiently well" and are in enough hands - such as those working in small businesses in IT - to provide a shift in consumer behaviour to the online world for buying.

Mr Russell added that bad weather generally helps shift online businesses into better financial territory as people decide not to brave the high street.

"There is a real awareness this year of the ability for delivery companies to make sure all orders are successfully delivered," he concluded.

"The revision of some contracts following industrial action by the postal workers has certainly brought some more realism this year to available capacity."

In a recent survey of SMEs for Connect, the two most important benefits of outsourcing were guaranteed response times and allowing in-house IT staff to concentrate on more strategic issues.