Online spending continues to increase

Consumers' love affair with online shopping shows no sign of slowing down

Written by Dinah Greek, Computeractive

Nearly £80-billion of annual consumer spending is either done online or influenced by the internet, and this figure is rising.

According to the sixth annual report from online retailers' organisation, the IMRG, 44 per cent of online shoppers said they planned to increase their online spending over the next year.

Online sales are growing at an average year-on-year rate of 45 per cent, and the amount spent directly online now accounts for 10 per cent of the annual spending total of £300-billion.

Advertisement

The IMRG concluded that "what emerges very clearly is that e-commerce continues to grow as a channel of retail choice for consumers".

The report, which surveyed the spending habits of 3,900 consumers, breaks the part the internet plays in influencing purchases into three areas.

It said the £30-billion of direct online purchases is made on products such as groceries, consumer goods and digital downloads.

Another £20 billion is spent in areas such as financial products, at online auctions, gambling, gaming and telecoms services such as internet access.

The internet also has great influence a further £30 billion that is spent offline. Nearly nine in ten people surveyed said finding out about products online had played a major factor in their choice of purchases from traditional stores.

The role played by thie internet also depends on the type of purchase the consumer is looking for. All of those surveyed who were considering buying home appliances or music looked for information on the internet first.

Nine in ten researched the internet for information on consumer electronics, eight in ten people did so for books and seven in ten for travel.

Interestingly, despite the figure for consumer electronics, only just over half of people considering buying computer equipment used the internet to research products.

The survey also looked at consumer expectations when dealing with companies who trade both offline and online.

It found that nearly three-quarters expect an item that is available in a retailer's store to be available on its website. However, only six in ten people expect website items to be available in the retailer's store.

In most cases, if consumers can't find an item on the company's website, they presume it is not available in the retailer's stores either.

Tags:

Reader comments

More from Computeractive

News

The latest home computing news

Downloads

The best PC tools, applications and more

Reviews

Independent opinions on new hardware and software

Step-by-step guides

Easy-to-follow projects with pictures

PC Help

Solve PC problems with our Q&A

Videos

PC projects demonstrated and product reviews

Articles

An in-depth look at how to get the best from your PC

Magazine

What's coming up in Computeractive

Forums

Get help with your PC problems from our readers

Competitions

Your chance to win computing prizes

Shopping

Great deals on products, services and more

Computeractive Back Issue CD-Rom 11
All 26 issues of Computeractive from 2008 on one CD-Rom.

Ultimate Guide to Free Computing
Find out how you can get free software, services and more!

Create your own calendars softwareCreate your own Calendars
The fun and easy way to create your own calendars!

Computeractive - Issue 280Computeractive Back Issues
Missed an issue? Click here to find a back issue

Blogs

Windows Watch

Windows Watch

Keeping an eye on the latest XP and Vista news

Office 2010 preview

I had a meeting with Microsoft to have a look at Office 2010 and some of the changes that are being made....

Download Junkie

Download Junkie

Your daily dose of download discussion

Create and manage your own site with TOWeb

Most businesses now have their own websites, even if it's only a few pages describing what it is they do....

Advertisement

Free email newsletters

Techno babble demystified...

[Display all definitions]

Or type in any computer-related word and click "Go"

Advertisement

Computeractive is not reponsible for content of Google adverts

Primary Navigation

© Incisive Media Investments Limited 2010, Published by Incisive Financial Publishing Limited, Haymarket House, 28-29 Haymarket, London SW1Y 4RX, are companies registered in England and Wales with company registration numbers 04252091 & 04252093

Search computeractive.co.uk
opfine.com - markets sentiment analysis