Online revolution: 95% of Brits have shopped online in past six months, survey finds

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Oct 4, 2017

An online survey of 500 UK adults has revealed that 95% of British shoppers have bought something online in the last six months, with clothing emerging as the most popular online purchase.

According to research conducted by and business process outsourcing expert Webhelp, only 5% of UK shoppers said they hadn’t bought anything online in the last six months, and that figure drops to 3% of 55-64 year olds. Furthermore, just 1% of those aged between 18 and 24 said they refrained from online shopping in the last six months.

Interestingly, everyone earning more than £10k per year said they had bought something online in the past six months.

The survey revealed that clothing is the most popular product category online, with 87% of those aged between 18 and 24 claiming to have used the internet to purchase clothing in past six months. Clothing is also popular among older shoppers, with 81% of 25-34s and 45-54s buying clothes online during the period.

But the most popular online site is not a clothing retailer, found the survey. Amazon emerged as the e-commerce platform most likely to have been responsible for people’s most recent purchase, followed by Tesco, Sainsbury’s, M&S and eBay.

Asda takes the 6th spot, while clothing retailers Very, John Lewis, Next and New Look make up the remainder of the top 10.

David Turner, CEO of Webhelp UK, India and SA, said: “It is perhaps surprising that people said their favourite thing to buy online is clothing and yet the online retailer most likely to have been responsible for their latest online purchase is not a traditional clothing retailer. This indicates there is an opportunity for clothing retailers to up their online game and challenge the dominance Amazon has in the online retail market.

“Webhelp’s results clearly indicate that online shopping is now very much a part of our every-day lives. Retailers need to ensure their online customer experience is seamless and delivers what customers are looking for if they are to challenge in this very competitive market.”