Amazon looks like winning the race to become the UK's number one Christmas e-tailer.

Despite recent gloom surrounding the dotcom sector, new research by analysts at market consultancy AC Nielsen shows that in the run-up to the festive period the Amazon.co.uk site saw a 40 per cent surge in visitors.

In November the online bookseller became the first UK shopping site to break the million-user mark, attracting 1.2 million visitors, up from 865,000 in October.

Rival Bol.com saw its number of visitors rise dramatically from 134,000 to 219,000 over the same period. Electrical e-tailer Buy.com saw visitors to its site jump from 140,000 to more than 244,000. Overall, visitors to UK online shopping sites increased by 10 per cent between October and November.

The last 12 months have seen a number of high-profile e-tail companies collapse. Fashion e-tailer Boo crashed after burning up £100 million, ClickMango, the online cosmetic outfit promoted by Joanna Lumley, followed soon after, while pan-European CD seller Boxman failed to find a buyer.

David Day, director of analytical services at AC Niel-sen, said the new figures showed that some e-tailers could have viable business models. 'This time last year there was a lot of hype around e-commerce that didn't live up to the promise. But these figures show that however the sector as a whole performs there will be some winners this Christmas.'

He warned that the number of visitors to an e-tail site meant nothing if their visits failed to translate into sales. 'Amazon has had a tough year and will be delighted with its audience growth to date. But the key is whether the lookers translate into bookers.'

However, the research will fire a warning shot across the bows of pure dotcom companies. Day said: 'We're seeing established names like Comet and Dixons coming through so strongly now. More and more, trusted brands are finding themselves among the biggest players in UK online retail and this trend certainly will continue .'