The UK is top of the league of Internet shoppers. According to a recent Ofcom survey UK shoppers spend an average of £1,083 a year online compared with Australia which spends the second highest at £842. The report found that eight in ten UK internet users (79 per cent) said they had ordered goods or services online in 2010, higher than any other European country.
UK internet users were also more likely to visit retail websites online than other countries, with nine in ten (89 per cent) claiming to do so in 2011.
As well as more UK consumers shopping online, they also spent more time on retail sites – an average of 84 minutes in January 2011, compared with around 20 minutes for consumers in Poland and Italy.
Mobile Internet growing
The importance of mobile Internet access is growing as Smartphone ownership nearly doubled in the UK between February 2010 and August 2011 (from 24 per cent to 46 per cent). Take-up was higher in the UK than among the other European countries surveyed (France: 35 per cent, Germany: 32 per cent, Italy: 40 per cent and Spain: 45 per cent).
The number of people using their mobiles to go online was also higher in the UK with nearly half (46 per cent) of UK internet users using their phones to go online in October 2011. This was higher than in all the other countries surveyed.
2013 – the year of mobile and e-commerce
In this day and age setting up e-commerce and mobile Internet versions of a website is not expensive and a solid investment in your future business success. Get in touch to discuss these issues through our Contact form.
See these links for more information:
Press release from Ofcom, UK consumers are a nation of online shoppers
