THE UK's online retailers are predicting greater sales in 2013 even as competition in the virtual high street hots up.

Research by Royal Mail found more than half of SME online retailers saw sales growth in 2012 and two-thirds were confident of improving income. However, 70% felt the environment was more competitive than it was two years ago with many planning to develop mobile apps to capitalise on the smartphones market.

Around half of SMEs in the online retail space plan to price products more competitively.