Sunday 25 December 2016 9:00 am

Christmas Day online shopping will peak at this surprisingly late time for the post-millennial “Generation Z”

Most people will be aiming to put their feet up after Christmas lunch today and zone out in front of the TV – but there's one group of people who will be driving a late-night shopping boom this evening.

Not content with their new stash of presents, "Generation Z", the post-millennial cohort who were born in the mid-90s and early 2000s, will be leading a Christmas Day shopping bonanza that will peak at 10pm tonight.

Online sales rise steadily from around 6am to midday, according to student discount site UniDays, and while they tail off in the early afternoon shopping volumes then start to increase again.

On Boxing Day, perhaps unsurprisingly, shopping volumes increase "rapidly" from 7am and peak at 11am as people go on the hunt for the best sale deals.

"For hundreds of thousands of young people, Christmas Day is another opportunity for online shopping," said Josh Rathour, chief executive and founder of UniDays.

"The desire to be first for a bargain sees huge numbers logging in on the stroke of midnight to secure retailers’ best deals and make their money go further. While Generation Z might take a break from shopping during Christmas lunch, people will be firing up their iPads and smartphones to shop for the latest must have items as they don’t need to wait till the stores re-open on Boxing Day."

Going on the prowl for fashion bargains is one of the most popular over the Christmas period, with eight of the 10 most popular websites visited over the 12 days of Christmas last year (via UniDays) selling fashion items.

Asos, New Look and Topshop are among the eight fashion choices, while Apple (coming in third place overall) and Boots (in seventh place) were the only non-fashion retailers on the top 10 list.

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