LONDON (AP) -- More Britons logging in to do their shopping led to a 28.9 percent increase in Internet spending in 2005 as online sales neared the totals for department stores, a retail analyst group said Monday. Consumers bought 8.2 billion pounds ($14.31 billion) worth of goods online, nearing the 9.4 billion pounds ($16.40 billion) spent in department stores, Verdict Research said. Overall retail spending grew by just 1.5 percent.
Online shopping accounted for half the growth in retail sales this past year. Shoppers spent 3.9 billion pounds ($6.81 billion) more in 2005 than the previous year, and 1.8 billion pounds ($3.14 billion) of that was spent on the Internet.
