How high street is falling out of fashion

And research by eBay revealed that Britons will spend 66.3 million shopping online this Christmas, buying a third - 36 million - of all their Christmas gifts on the internet.

Most people have woken up to the fact that they can save money buying books from Amazon.com rather than traipsing along to the bricks-and-motar bookshop, but it is cheaper to go online than to the high street for a number of other reasons, too.

Visa points out that as well as goods often being less expensive, you do not have shell out on bus fares or parking. Some 31 per cent of Scots say it is the high cost of parking that encourages them to shop online.

High street hazards are another reason shoppers feel safer online. An amazing 78 per cent of Britons say they have injured themselves on a shopping trip - 48 per cent have tripped on the pavement, 35 per cent have slipped on wet surfaces and 20 per cent have walked into a lamppost - this actually kills six people every year.

With half of all shopping trips causing an argument between partners or friends, Visa worked with Dr Aric Sigman, a psychologist, to find out why consumers have lost patience with the high street.

Dr Sigman said: "The everyday shopping experience, either in the high street or online, is enjoyable if we don't feel under pressure. If people are going to spend their hard-earned money, they do not want to do it under circumstances that are stressful or unpleasant.

"So it now seems that an increasing number of people feel online shopping enables them to achieve what they want without having to endure the additional emotional, social and even physical price they pay for venturing out on the high street.

"As the process of internet shopping has become easier and more sophisticated, people are gaining that sense of escapism and enjoyment that was previously derived from a high street expedition."

Dr Sigman says Christmas shopping differs from shopping at other times of the year in several important ways. For example, we do not have to try clothes when they are gifts for other people, and Christmas shopping is "functional", lacking the social aspect of shopping at other times of year, so people are happy to do it alone in the comfort of their own home. Men in particularly are happy to go online, regarding it as "mission shopping".

"I don't think recreational high street shopping will die out as people still want to physically inspect the products, and women tend to enjoy the social element, but increasingly we will be going online in the run-up to Christmas," Dr Sigman said.

But separate research from Visa revealed that fear of the internet is still stopping some people online. It has identified this group of consumers as "TATS" - trend aware, technology scared.

But it is not just Christmas shopping that can be done more cheaply thanks to technology, as there are now a plethora of sites that help you find everything from the cheapest mortgage to the most reasonable utilities provider. You can save hundreds a year by spending a few hours scouring the internet, as the example provided by Peopleschampion.com demonstrates (see below).

And another comparison site, moneysupermarket.com, says this is an ideal time to check you have the best mortgage deal available, with many borrowers seeing their monthly repayment increasing because their lender has passed on the full 0.25 per cent in the Bank of England base rate announced in November. Even worse, some lenders still have not decided what they will do with their standard variable rates and people are in the dark about what they may end up paying.

A spokesman for moneysupermarket says: "This is a dreadful approach to customer care at this time of year. More than two weeks after the Bank base rate rose to 5 per cent nearly half the market's providers have yet to inform customers of their fate. Consequently, with millions of people not able to plan their finances going into the new year, Christmas could be a time of anxiety rather than cheer for many."

Whether it is Christmas shopping or planning your finances for new year, the internet is a useful place to start your research.

HOW TO MAKE SURE YOUR ONLINE SHOPPING IS SAFE

1 WHEN registering your details on shopping websites, always use a secure password

2 When buying on the internet, always check that you are paying through a secure website, indicated by https:// in the address field

3 Click on the padlock to check that the seller is who they say they are and that their certificate is current and registered to the right address

4 Look for evidence of a physical address and telephone number on a shopping website

5 Be especially cautious when buying from overseas companies

6 If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is. Cross-check information and look for reports of problems

7 Be extremely wary of anything that is offered in an unsolicited or spam e-mail

8 Make sure your web browser (that's the software that you use to view websites, most commonly Internet Explorer, Netscape or Mozilla) is set to the highest level of security. These options are not always automatically activated when your computer is set up, so check your manual or the "Help" option.

9 Check you are using a recent version of your web browser, as they often include better security features - up-to-date versions can be downloaded free. If you have an obscure browser or use on-line services such as AOL or CompuServe, contact your internet service provider or software supplier to find out how to activate their security features.

10 Always use a safe payments system such as PayPal. If you are using a credit card and have any queries or concerns, telephone the company before giving your card details to reassure yourself that it is legitimate.

KEYBOARD SHOPPER

GEORGINA Humphreys, 27, lives in the West End of Glasgow and is studying for a PhD at Glasgow University.

She said: "I buy most things online, including books, CDs, tickets, flights, food and wine. Clothes and shoes are really the only things I like to go out shopping for so I can try them on.

"I really got into the habit of internet shopping when I was living with my parents in the countryside in Shropshire and have been doing it since.

"I'll be buying Christmas presents online and you can get some really unusual gifts.

"It's not just that I save money but I also like to avoid the crowds."

Half an hour's surfing can save you hundreds

REBECCA is in her early thirties. Her long working hours and her hectic social life mean she has little time to sort out her finances. She lives in a two-bedroom flat in Edinburgh city centre and drives a four-year-old Alfa Romeo. She travels abroad at least once a year on holiday and once a month with work.

Rebecca took half an hour out of her day to look at comparison quotes on Peopleschampion.com for some of her finances, and discovered the following:

Car Insurance

Her current annual premium is 348.73. Peopleschampion.com found her a like-for-like policy for 241.50.

Saving: 107.23

Home Insurance

Her current annual premium for building and contents insurance is a staggering 572.82. Peopleschampion.com found her a better policy and it was only 144.01.

Saving: 428.81

Credit cards

Rebecca re-mortgaged at the beginning of this year and cleared her balance. However she now has an outstanding balance of 576. By transferring to an interest free card she saves herself about 112 a year in interest payments.

Travel Insurance

Rebecca went to Italy earlier in the year and paid about 48 for her travel insurance policy. Through Peopleschampion.com she would have found a travel insurance policy exactly the same for only 12.

Saving 36.

Staying away

Reasons shoppers give for avoiding the high street:

Goods cheaper online 70%

Time wasted queuing 66%

Poor service 54%

Badly behaved children 37%

Getting the hard sell 37%

Grubby environment 27%