Online spending grew nearly 20 times faster than the overall UK retail market last year, according to research.

A survey by retail analyst Verdict shows  that high-street spending grew by 1.5 per cent in 2005, compared with 28.9 per cent for internet shopping – although the web still accounts for only 3.1 per cent of total retail sales. The number of online shoppers grew by 25.5 per cent to 14.6 million.

Nick Gladding, senior researcher at Verdict and author of the report, says retail businesses worth £3bn went into administration last year, and he believes that competition from ecommerce played a significant role in a third of those.

‘E-retail is redefining how people select retailers, enabling them to choose products that precisely meet their requirements, empowering them to find the lowest-price product and allowing them to shop at a time that suits them,’ he said.

‘This makes online retailers far more formidable competitors to high-street retailers than current figures suggest.’

The Verdict research predicts that online sales growth will continue, driven by further uptake of high-speed broadband connections. Broadband access tripled in 2005 to 9.6 million people.

The number of online shoppers over the age of 55 doubled in 2005 to 2.7 million.