Online shopping in UK tops 18 million

13 April 2012

A massive rise in the number of online shoppers has been revealed. Research shows more than two million Britons have taken up shopping over the internet in the past year, with a record 18.6 million people making online purchases in July.

It also reveals that users of eBay, named as Britain's most popular shopping destination, spent on average an hour and three quarters per month on the site, and that as a nation we spent 23.4 million hours shopping on the web.

Experts say the findings - from Nielsen/NetRatings and eBay.co.uk - are a clear sign the internet is set to dominate the high street.

"Online shopping has really reached a tipping point in Britain,î said Andrew McClelland of the Interactive Media in Retail Group. "Ten per cent of retail revenue is now online, and that's only going to get bigger."

British shoppers spent £13.5 billion online during the first half of 2006, 40 per cent more than they did in the same period last year, according to the IMRG. "It's almost inconceivable for a major retailer now not to have an online presence," said Mr McClelland.

The UK's top shopping destination was eBay - also the most searched for website in Britain.

"The key with eBay is that it's very easy to get sucked in, and there's an almost addictive nature to it," said Mr McClelland. Over half of UK internet users logged on to eBay.co.uk in July as 12.2 million people visited the site.

Tesco.com is the highest ranking high street brand in the league, pulling in 4.3 million shoppers. Earlier this week the company revealed it was set to hit £1 billion in online sales for the first time.

The growth is being driven by the Tesco.com service, which makes 220,000 grocery deliveries a week and has 750,000 regular customers. Demand has grown so fast that Tesco is trying out store locations that customers cannot visit and which deal with online orders only.

Experts say that despite Tesco's growth, eBay is set to retain its crown as the top online shopping site.

"The e-commerce top 10 reinforces the impact which sites such as eBay are having on 21st-century shoppers," said Alex Burmaster, European internet analyst at Nielsen/NetRatings. "It's firmly established as a driving force in internet commerce, and as a unique proposition which taps into consumers' wants."

Bargain hunting is the key to its success, eBay claims. "The quest for bargains which can't be found on the high street is driving hordes of shoppers online," a spokesman said.

"With over 10 million items for sale on eBay, it's a natural destination for people to turn to for whatever they're seeking - while people selling through the site also know they have a really receptive audience."

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