Retail traffic is expected to surge online today as shoppers search out bargains and gifts they did not receive.

Barclaycard data showed 31% of shoppers expect to browse the Sales online on Christmas Day.

The majority of shoppers will log on in the evening once all the festivities are over, and 22% admit they will browse the Sales whenever there is a lull in the day’s events.

However, 12% said they will look in the early hours of Christmas Day morning or straight after opening their presents this morning.

Etail giant Amazon is forecasting record Christmas Day sales this year. Its Boxing Day Sale will start a day early today and transactions are expected to peak at around 8.30pm as shoppers log on after the day’s festivities.

A Barclaycard spokesman said: “The Boxing Day sales have traditionally been the day when we splash our Christmas cash – however the relentless growth in online shopping, and ever-earlier sales, means that more and more of us are taking to the web on Christmas Day to secure the best bargains.

“It’s been the theme through much of 2013 – we continue to see shoppers keep up their search for value by shifting more of their shopping online, as the phenomenal success of discount days this year such as Black Friday and Mega Monday shows.”

Spending data from Barclaycard, which processes nearly half of all debit and credit card transactions in the UK, shows that the amount spent online on Christmas Day has grown by an average of 23.7% over the past two to three years.

However, some 27% of shoppers surveyed expect to hit the high street on Boxing Day.