Nearly half the adult population of the UK purchased goods online during the last quarter of 2009, according to data from the British Population Survey.
Some 48.7% of adults shopped online during the final three months of the year, up from 45.4% for the same period in 2008. Searching for information on purchasing goods and services also increased to 54.5% from 52.7%. Online grocery shopping was up to 13.6% from 12.4%, while all other online shopping was up from 44.1% to 47.5%.
The increases follow a rise in the overall percentage of the population who have access to the internet. Of the adult population, 73.9% can now go online at home, up from 70.1% in the final quarter of 2008.
In terms of age groups, the largest increase was among 18-24-year-olds, with 52.3% of them now shopping online, compared with 44.6% in the last quarter of 2008. However, 55-64-year-olds were up 4.4%, with 47.6% of them now buying on the web. The third biggest increase was for the 45-54 age group, up 3.8% year on year to 58.6%.
The leaders in market share were the 35-44-year-olds, with 24.1%, followed by 45-54-year-olds with 19.4%.
For the first time more than one in five of the 65-and-over age group shopped online in the last three months of 2009.
The British Population Survey interviewed 169,220 people
Author:Rufus Jay
Source: www.nma.co.uk
Date: 02/02/2010