Some of Australia's largest online retailers including Flight Centre, JB Hi-Fi, Lorna Jane, Cotton On, Escape Travel, Skiddoo, City Beach, OO.com.au, DealsDirect.com.au, CatchOfTheDay, Scoopon, Moshtix and Menulog have signed up to V.me to make it easier for their customers to checkout online.

V.me offers a simple and secure way to pay online by entering a single username and password - whether shopping from a PC, laptop or mobile device - eliminating the hassle of entering shipping, billing and account information, across multiple merchant websites.

New research, released by Visa today, shows the race is on between online and bricks-and-mortar retail stores in the lead up to Christmas with 43 per cent of 18-29 year olds and 37 per cent of 30-49 year olds now preferring to shop online than go in store.

The Visa Online Shopping Study*, a survey of 1,000 Australian consumers conducted for the first time in 2013, also shows men generally prefer shopping online (35%) than women (28%) and many expect to do more online shopping in the future than they currently do.

"With more customers going online, we're helping retailers to simplify the online checkout experience and convert sales. V.me offers an easy and convenient way to pay online at any time you choose, on any device you choose, and with any major payment card brand," said Greg Storey, Visa's Head of V.me for Asia Pacific, Central Europe, Middle East and Africa, based in Australia.

Online retailer CatchOfTheDay, which also owns Scoopon, said it expects an online sale every second over the Christmas period.

"Apparel, toys and jewellery are the hot sellers this year, and our customers are purchasing through a range of devices, including PC, tablet and phone. They're looking for the simplest and easiest way to get their Christmas shopping done and V.me is helping make that happen by offering a beautiful online checkout experience," said Gabby Leibovich, Co-Founder CatchOfTheDay.

Sean Sutherland, ExExecutive General Manager Digital & Omni-Channel at Flight Centre, said people will find paying with V.me online just as easy as paying with their Visa card in store.

"It's important for us to provide a seamless experience across all channels so our customers can interact with us in any way they choose. Offering our customers an easy way to pay online with V.me online is integral to that strategy, particularly during this busy summer holiday season."

Banks are getting on board too, with every Visa, MasterCard or American Express card from every financial institution in Australia available for their customers to upload into V.me.

V.me stores personal account information behind layers of security within Visa's industry-leading network. The service is designed around Visa's long-standing relationships with financial institutions.

"We are working with financial institution partners to deliver the benefits of V.me to consumers and that puts us in a strong position to deliver a great digital wallet experience," said Mr Storey.

V.me will become available across more merchants in Australia in 2014.