Irish consumers are expected to spend more than €4 million per hour on bargains tomorrow, as part of Black Friday shopping.

An estimated €109 million will be spent on the day, up 31 per cent on last year, with electronics topping the list of most popular items.

Research from online marketing firm Webloyalty indicates that almost three quarters (71 per cent) of people say they will buy at least one of their Christmas gifts on Black Friday or Cyber Monday this year.

However, just 35 per cent of Irish SMEs with a website can process payments online and only 42 per cent can take sales orders online, according to research undertaken by the IE Domain Registry (IEDR).

The research also found that as many as 1 in 4 Irish SMEs still do not have a website, or any online presence whatsoever, to list products or conduct e-commerce transactions with their customers.

IEDR chief executive David Curtin said Irish consumers spent almost €6 billion in e-commerce transactions last year.

“At the moment, only a tiny amount of this is spent in Ireland, with most consumers purchasing products from stores in the UK and Europe where digital marketplaces are more commonplace and accessible.”