There was a massive shift towards online shopping last year, a new report by Visa has found.
The eCommerce sector rose by 15.4% in the year to December 2016, while face-to-face sales dropped by 0.3%.
Overall, spending was up 3.6% but this increase was the slowest since records began in 2014.
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The report found the clothing and footwear sector continues to struggle. Consumer spending here declined for the fifth month in a row.
But it was good news for most other sectors. Household goods rose by 4.3%, food and drink was up 2.9%, transport and communication surged by 11% year-on-year.
Visa's country manager Philip Konopik said put the shift down to the sterling exchange rate, which he said "continues to entice shoppers to purchase from UK online retailers."
He said: “The large shift to online shopping in the run-up to Christmas continued in December with consumers seeking to take advantage of the value on offer from UK online retailers due to the sterling exchange rate.
"Despite this there are a number of positives to be drawn from the data, with a range of sectors such as hotels, restaurants, bars and grocery retailers clearly benefiting from the festive period.
"The last quarter has seen the growth in overall consumer spending slip below 5% each month however, and it will be interesting to observe whether this trend continues into the first quarter of 2017.”
