While thousands of customers queued outside stores up and down the country to get ahead of the game, large numbers more made the most of crumbling costs from the comfort of their own homes.
Fears of customers tensing their straps in the face of tough economic conditions were quickly shelved, with an approximated 10 thousand customers considered to have invested about £2.9bn.
Britons invested 14 thousand hours reading sites last night, paying around 113 thousand trips to on the internet suppliers on what became the UK's greatest day for on the internet purchasing, experts said.
Web revenue were up by 17% on Punching Day last season, according to market data firm Experian.
Figures were a little bit lower than the 126 thousand on the internet trips expected for Boxing Day, something experts linked to a "sales creep" which saw suppliers begin to reduce costs before Xmas.
James Murray, digital understanding administrator at Experian, said: "Boxing Day set a new English history for on the internet purchasing with 113 thousand trips going to retail store sites in a single day.
"However, with a number of the major suppliers providing their revenue forward to Xmas Eve, the impact of that was that Punching Day was a little bit modest and not as legendary as we prediction."
Figures show that Xmas Eve was 86% larger than last season as a purchasing day, and Xmas Day was 71% larger.
While Boxing Day fell short of expectations, online shopping is still set to be up on last year by about 30%.
The figures emerged as stores threw open their doors this morning, offering further discounts and sparking scenes of mayhem on shop floors.
It was another busy day in London's bustling West End where footfall hit record levels yesterday - up 31.3% on Boxing Day last year.
Similar scenes played out across the rest of the country as retailers offered hefty discounts in a bid to lure shoppers and compete with online rivals.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said the dash for discounts was boosted by consumers who were feeling the pinch.
BRC spokesman Richard Dodd said: "Customers are under lots of financial pressure and are really keen on seeking out value and taking advantage of bargains.
"Today will be another big day when some retailers will launch their sales and that will help to continue the momentum."
Kent's Bluewater shopping centre, which welcomed 130,000 visitors yesterday - some of whom queued from 1am - said it was expecting an even busier day today.
The mall, which predicts some 900,000 people will surge through its doors during the next six days, is open until 10pm tonight.
Robert Goodman, Bluewater's general manager, said: "Boxing Day's momentum has continued into today, with the opening of the John Lewis clearance sale being a major draw."
