Today is the UK’s ‘Manic Monday’, when a predicted £537m will be spent in the sudden rush to order goods online to be delivered in time for Christmas.

The amount of Christmas shopping done online is likely to increase massively over the next few years, as more consumers have greater access to smartphones and businesses use apps as a direct channel for marketing and sales, according to smartphone app developer, Mubaloo. 

“The key factor here is that the UK has more smartphones per head of population than any other country in the world,” says CEO, Mark Mason. “With IPTVs coming in and a whole new raft of Android phones for the Christmas market, it won’t be long before apps are replacing catalogues, websites and shops!”?

Mubaloos thoughts echo the findings of a survey carried out by Tesco Direct, the results of which were also released today. They revealed that one in 10 online shoppers in the UK plan to carry out some or all of their online shopping on their mobile this year.

Today’s consumer splurge comes as online grocery sales were also reported to have jumped by 20 per cent this year. The Institute of Grocery Distribution said the surge was driven by shoppers aged 18 to 24, many of whom own smartphones and so don’t even need to log on to their computers to order their week’s shopping.

In October, a survey commissioned by Google found that the internet is worth 7.2 per cent of the UK economy and is valued at £100bn. The internet’s contribution to GDP is set to grow by about 10 per cent annually, reaching 10 per cent of GDP by 2015. According to the Boston Consulting Group, who undertook the survey, the UK is the world’s leading nation for e-commerce. For every £1 spent online to import goods, £2.80 is exported.

Mubaloo is a bespoke corporate app developer, working across all smartphone platforms. Clients include The AA, Argos, RBS, Heineken, Samsung, Nike and LoveFilm.