The busiest online shopping week ever has begun, according to ecommerce players PayPal, eBay and Australia Post.

The three companies are forecasting this week to be Australia’s busiest online shopping week in history as consumers work on completing their Christmas shopping.

The week will climax on Sunday 11 December with eBay’s busiest day of the year: a day the company predicts will see over 1.6 million Australians visiting eBay.com.au on that day alone.

PayPal’s acting managing director, Elena Wise, says the 11% rise in ecommerce in Australia means Christmas shopping is now a truly multichannel activity: “This year, consumers will be shopping across a mix of retail channels, from their PCs to their mobiles to in-store. Wherever they are shopping, consumers are looking for flexibility, convenience and security.”

Australia Post is preparing to deliver an extra 3 million parcels in December this year, and managing director Ahmed Fahour says the rise in online shopping is the cause: “Since July we’ve seen parcels growing at almost 13% compared to the same time last year, a figure which can be directly linked to Australians taking up online shopping in record numbers.”