And finally…’Commuter commerce’ worth £9bn

More than half of the total haul - £5.9m – is spent by Londoners, a study carried out by mobile payments firm Zapp and the Centre For Economics and Business Research (Cebr) revealed.

The figures show that those traveling in the capital are currently spending £44 a week, on average, while going to and from work.

The weekly amount spent by commuters outside the capital was £36.

According to the findings, the most popular reason for shopping while commuting is to pass the time, followed by it being the most convenient time to shop – fuelled by the increased availability of wifi on public transport, and better mobile browsing speeds.

The data also revealed clothes are the most popular items being bought through so-called ‘commuter commerce’, followed by media entertainment - including digital downloads as well as books, DVDs and CDs - then groceries and takeaway meals.

The morning rush hour was found to be the most popular time, with 1.5 million people daily attempting to brighten their trudge to work with a spot of retail therapy.

The Cebr estimates that more secure payment methods could boost that spending by another £1.5bn and take total commuter commerce past the £10bn mark.

“People in Britain spend more online per head than any other nation, and it seems our love affair with online shopping now also extends to the morning rush hour,” said Cebr economist Rob Harbron.

“The data shows that commuter commerce is booming in the UK as savvy commuters use their time efficiently to make the purchases they just don’t have time for normally. We estimate that making the mobile checkout experience faster and safer could boost spending by £30m each week.”