Although Black Friday has hit the headlines more often, the UK’s biggest day for safe shopping online is thought to be Cyber Monday, according to a study from the Centre for Retail Research.

Almost 22 million consumers from across the country are thought to have made a purchase on November 27th this year, taking advantage of retailer discounts and contributing to a total £7.8 billion spend carried out across the entire four day spree which began last Friday.

Black Friday itself saw an eight per cent uptick in sales, with Cyber Monday expected to have slightly outdone it by a margin of around £7 million.

A wide variety of retailers both online and on the high street have been extending their deals from before Black Friday and to beyond Cyber Monday as the sales period shifts to take advantage of the pre-Christmas rush. In previous years this has led to a decline in the traditional January sales, with the web largely responsible for changing consumer habits.

As the name suggests, Cyber Monday is even more e-commerce oriented than most other major days on the retail calendar, with people shopping from their desks at work as well as from their smartphones while on the move to bag bargains. And this is not just a trend that is limited to tech-savvy under 35s, but to people of all ages, with 60 per cent of retirement-age people using online shopping during this period, according to a PwC report.

This has left some high street outlets feeling the pinch, even though most big retailers capitalise on e-commerce sales through the likes of click and collect to get more people into stores. So for British consumers, Cyber Monday’s allure seems to set it apart from its imported sibling.