On a typical week a greater proportion of consumers will carry out safe shopping online on Thursday than in any other timeframe.

This fact was uncovered in a new study from Salecycle which found that Thursdays typically took up around 15 per cent of all e-commerce spending, while at the other end of the spectrum were Sundays, responsible for just 12.5 per cent of purchases.

Analysts also looked into the specific times of day during which online shopping is most prevalent, with 9pm taking the top spot.

The report went on to determine how consumer trends in online shopping play out over the course of the average month, with the 29th being the date on which most people choose to buy online because this is the point at which many consumers get paid.

The maturity of the e-commerce market in the UK and the rest of Europe was apparent in this global scale, as the actual amount of growth reported in the region was much lower than in other parts of the world.

The greatest growth in online sales was seen in Mexico, where there was a 35 per cent uptick in spending last year compared with the year before. India was a close second, with e-commerce growth of 31.9 per cent uncovered.

Another interesting aspect of the global online shopping market that was unveiled in the study is that both Black Friday and Cyber Monday seem to be losing ground, while the rise of Singles Day is reshaping spending habits, especially in Asia where it originated. While the Cyber Weekend in the run-up to Christmas is still incredibly important to the retail industry in the UK and North America, this is less relevant in other parts of the world, and so this has given Singles Day the chance to shine.