The trend, it said, reflects the increased proliferation of smartphone devices, and the fact that consumers' "busy work schedules and hectic lives" are leaving them with less time to shop via their desktop or in store.

"For the first time this year we anticipate a significant amount of orders to be placed by customers using their mobile phones, because customers like the convenience of shopping on the go," said Ian Crook, CMO for tesco.com. To prepare, Tesco relaunched its own mobile web presence earlier this month, which it says should help users more easily browse and purchase its products on the go.

"In October alone, we had over half a million people visit the Tesco Direct website using their mobile phones and in the run up to Christmas we’re expecting this number to surge," Crook added.

Overall, the survey found 78 percent of consumers plan to conduct at least some of their Christmas shopping online this year, with 71 percent claiming to do so to avoid in-store checkout queues. Forty-four percent also said they use the Internet to track down the cheapest price for specific products.

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