According to research conducted by telco watchdog, Ofcom, shoppers in the UK are predicted to spend billions of pounds again this year on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and much of that is expected to be spent buying tech online.

Ofcom has said ownership of digital devices such as smart TVs, smartwatches and smartphones have grown significantly in recent years, as more people need a constant connection to the internet.

Internet users say they spend an average of 24 hours a week online.

Going the way of the hula-hoop and Apple gear are MP3 players, DVD players and desktop computers.

Tablets and e-readers -  rather than being the game changers - have peaked. Ownership of both is significantly higher than it was seven years ago but has levelled out in the last few years.

Ian Macrae, Ofcom’s Director of Market Intelligence, said: “As technology evolves and transforms how we live our lives, the devices we rely on are constantly changing. The growth in popularity of streaming services has created tremendous demand for connected TVs, which for many people are replacing DVD players, and the smartphone is replacing several other devices at once.

“The range of connected devices is expanding rapidly. Smart speakers really took off last year and along with other smart home devices will again be ones to watch this year.”

Ecommerce has transformed the way British people shop. Its research shows that seven in ten adults now shop online, with around half of all internet users doing more of their shopping this way. Two in five adults use their mobile to shop online, and a quarter do so during their commute.

Shoppers still prefer to get their purchases delivered rather than collecting them, with fewer than half of people using a ‘click and collect’ service, and only one in five people collecting something from a parcel locker.