Online retail sales revenue jumped by 110% during March compared to the previous four weeks, driven by movement restrictions put in place by the Government to counteract the spread of Covid-19.

That is according to new data compiled by digital marketing agency Wolfgang Digital which also found that last week alone the revenue from online retail sales was three times what it was during an average week in February, with traffic up 4%.

Overall online transactions rose 44% in March compared to February. However, traffic only rose 4% and revenue rose 2%.

That's partly explained by the fact that the boost in online retail sales has been offset by a drop in other segments, such as higher value online travel bookings.

Travel websites have seen average weekly traffic plummet 36%, with average weekly revenue down 70% in March compared to February.

Last week alone, online travel revenue was just 4% of the weekly average in February.

"Although overall movements in the online economy are positive we can see there are stark differences by industry," said Alan Coleman, CEO of Wolfgang Digital.

"The violent fall off in online travel revenue to as miniscule as 4% of its February average is a stark illustration of the commercial devastation of Covid 19. However, homebound consumption has seen revenue double for online retailers."

Certain product categories registered huge increases in online sales, as high as five times what they normally sell, the data shows.

These include freezers, hair clippers, laptops, toys, kitchen appliances, video games, musical instruments and pet supplies.

More alcohol was also sold by some retailers during March than during the Christmas period and sales in home exercise equipment also soared.

Average transaction values in the first week of March in particular were up considerably, according to the agency, as people stocked up on certain goods, many of them higher value.

"Consumer spending has transformed dramatically in less than a month," said Mr Coleman.

"Which new tastes are temporary and which will be the new normal post corona crisis is the question on every marketer's lips."

The data involved Wolfgang Digital analysing over 32 million website sessions and over €100 million in online revenue over the past eight weeks.

The traffic was largely Irish focused, but some of it in the case of travel and hospitality websites came from outside the country.