THE amount of money spent online soared by 30 per cent to £163 billion between 2006 and 2007, government figures revealed yesterday.
Online shopping represented 7.7 per cent of takings in the retail sector in 2007, with larger businesses leading the way.
Shoppers spent £125.2 billion over the internet in 2006, according to the research published by the Office for National S
tatistics.
During the dotcom boom, it was assumed that the most successful online businesses would be those which had no presence other than on the internet, but the technology is now working best for retail stores that operate in conjunction with it, according to experts.
Mintel retail analyst Richard Perks said: "The internet and high street stores work well with each other and most have set up websites now. You can go into a branch of Tesco, John Lewis or Comet for instance and research what you are buying and then order it online.
"It is definitely a continuing upward trend, although it must be remembered that the internet still only makes up a small proportion of total retail sales."
The report also found that more than seven in ten businesses had a website.
It states: "The results of the 2007 e-commerce survey, which was based on businesses with ten or more employees, show large increases in the value of trade over the internet and some levelling off in growth in the use of some information and communication technologies (ICTS], such as computers, internet access and websites.
"Saturation is being reached by most business groups in these ICTs."
The full article contains 270 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
