With the indomitable rise of Amazon, eBay and other online retailers, the footfall on the traditional high street has significantly reduced. More and more shoppers are turning to their keyboards to find the latest deals, rather than rifle through disordered sale rails.
The ease, convenience and speed of internet shopping has made it the success story of the past decade.
Data released by the Office of National Statistics, (ONS), has revealed online shopping figures for 2017.
While the figures are up, the increase from a decade ago isn’t that drastic. There has been no increase in the past twelve months, and only 24 percentage points up since 2008.
The bottom line shows that this year, 77% of adults in Great Britain have bought goods or services online – and the majority of these consumers are younger. Yet, evidence suggests that older generations are becoming savvier when it comes to buying things over the internet.
According to ONS, the largest growing sector for online shopping is the 55-64 age group, which has grown by 30 percentage points since 2008. In contrast, the age group that shows the slowest growth is the 25-35 year age group, which grew by just 17 percentage points.
Despite this, the 25-35 year age group bought more regularly than any other age group – with 26% using the internet to buy goods eleven times or more over the past three months. Only 7% of the 55-64 year age group matched this frequency.
When it comes to the most popular items to buy, clothing and sports goods are at the top of the list, bought by 56% of adults in 2017. Household goods, including furniture and toys, was the second most popular – and bought by 50% of adults. Holiday accommodation came third.