Online spending on Christmas Day is set to pass the £150m mark for the first time this year, online retail group IMRG has predicted.

IMRG expects 4.8 million people to shop online on Christmas Day itself, spending £153m. On Boxing Day it expects spending to pass the £300m mark for the first time.

The optimism comes despite the delivery problems experienced in the run-up to Christmas by many online retailers. “With many people not being able to get out to the high street sales due to the wide-ranging impact of the snow, online could see a real boost over the next few weeks,” said IMRG managing director David Smith.

IMRG’s view was backed up by Halfords, which expects Christmas Day to be the busiest day of the year for shopping online. It expects its reserve and collect facility to be particularly popular, with customers reserving goods for collection on Boxing Day.

Halfords expects three peaks for online sales during the day, at 11am, 8pm and 11pm. Its busiest hour online all last year was between 11pm and midnight on Christmas Day.