Sales of goods online have increased by over 15 per cent (15.9 per cent) compared to this time last year, new figures have shown.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) reports that the March figures are a slight increase on February, but once the longer month is taken into account, both show growth at 15.5 per cent.

This contrasts with growth of just 0.6 per cent in March last year and represents the "best total sales growth since April 2006," according to BRC's Stephen Robertson.

The online retail figures appear all the more impressive compared to high street results, which show growth of just over 6 per cent (6.6 per cent).