New research from Datamonitor, commissioned by PayPal, estimates that the number of online shoppers in Britain will increase by 10 million, rising to nearly 25 million by the end of the decade.
Datamonitor researchers assert that online retail spending in the UK will reach £21.6 billion ($41 billion at current rates) by 2010. In addition, they predict that overall online spending in the UK, including services, will nearly double that number, reaching over £39 billion in the time period.
"Rising broadband access in the UK has made electronic window-shopping easier," said eMarketer senior analyst James Belcher. "This helps both offline retailers who put product information online and those who sell directly on the Web."
The report states that each shopper will spend an average of £48 per transaction.
"Shopping online has become as common as popping out to your local high street and fits perfectly into our fast-paced time-poor society," Geoff Iddison, CEO of PayPal, told thisismoney.co.uk.
Online shopping has room to grow in the UK. Research done earlier this year by the country's Office of Communications (Ofcom) showed that less than a fifth of Britain's Internet users shop online every week.
For more information, read eMarketer's "UK Online" report.