Business advisory firm Deloitte LLP has calculated that around £3.5 billion of Christmas spending in the UK will either be bought on or influenced by smartphones. It says consumers who use their mobile devices to research prices, store their shopping lists and take their shopping conversations onto social media will account for £3.2 billion of this total, with £330 million of sales being made directly on smartphones. In addition, £500 million of Christmas shopping in the UK will take place on tablets.

Overall, Deloitte reckons 10% of the UK’s in-store retail sales will be influenced by smartphones in December 2012.

Although this year’s total retail sales this Christmas are expected to be up just 1% year-on-year - effectively a fall in volume when inflation is considered - online sales are forecast to be up 17%.

Colin Jeffrey, head of multichannel retail at Deloitte, said “As with recent years, the strongest growth will be found online, with purchases completed on mobile phones double or even triple that of last year. It is also going to be a click-and-collect Christmas with those retailers who have invested in this service in line to do well as these customers spend more and collections drive footfall in to stores. Retailers without flexible collection options and mobile services are failing to meet basic customer expectations and will suffer as a result.”

“The rapid adoption of tablets and the high number received as gifts this Christmas will drive a sharp increase in transactions through these devices. However, whilst transaction growth is slower for smartphones, their broader influence is far greater. Whilst we forecast 10% of in-store sales will be influenced by smartphones in December, by 2016 we predict this figure will be as high as 18% for the full year, equivalent to £43bn of sales.”