Online shop owners are in for a bonanza this weekend as the festive shopping season gets into full swing.

Figures from the Centre for Retail Research said Brits would spend around £1.3 billion online between Black Friday (this Friday) and Cyber Monday the following week.

Black Friday is a modern tradition in the US for retailers to slash prices in a bid to ramp up sales. Cyber Monday is the peak of Christmas shopping in the UK, although British shoppers also spend big in US outlets.

Black Friday is the first Friday after Thanksgiving in the US and is considered the start of the festive shopping season. Both days have become synonymous with heavy discounting and deals by retailers.

Shoppers in the UK are predicted to fork out £6,435 every second on Cyber Monday. If so it would be the highest rate of spending ever recorded, making a total of £556 million, an increase of 11.4% this time last year.

“Cyber Monday is getting bigger every year and this year looks set to be the biggest yet, with Brits predicted to spend £23.2 million an hour on Monday,” said Giulio Montemagno at RetailMeNot, which commissioned the research.

“With sales in the US now topping £1.3 billion on Cyber Monday alone, retailers elsewhere are vying for a piece of action and looking to capitalise on the shopping frenzy with short-term promotions and eye-catching deals.

“With retailers in Britain among the first in Europe to adopt Cyber Monday, the UK is now far ahead of other European countries with sales expected to exceed that of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands combined on 1st December.”