With U.K. shoppers relying more and more on the web for gift buying, online shopping is predicted to increase 12 percent during the upcoming holiday season, according to new research firm Hitwise, reports NetImperative. The U.K. online retail sector is expected to grow 25 percent in share of visits from July 2005 to December 2005, or a 12 percent increase compared with December 2004, according to the research.

Visits to online retailers are expected to peak the week ending December 3, with more than 1 in every 7 internet visits going to online retailers that week - driven by eBay UK, which peaks earlier than most other online retailers; retailers in general should expect peak traffic the following week, according to the Hitwise report.

Hitwise also announced that online retailing was one of the biggest online categories in July 2005, with the Hitwise shopping & classifieds category accounting for 11 percent of all UK internet visits in July, attracting a larger share of visits than search (10 percent) and travel (5 percent).

Auctions is largest retail sub-category, making up 44 percent, due to eBay UK, which accounted for 85 percent of visits to auctions websites in July. Departments stores are the second-largest retail sub-category at 12 percent.