Almost half the population now shop online
48.7% of adults made purchases online during the final three months of 2009, according to the latest data released by The British Population Survey.
This compares to 45.4% for the same period in 2008. Searching online for information on products or services people are thinking of purchasing has also risen to a new total of 54.5% (2008 52.7%).
These rises during 2009 come on the back of a further increase in the overall percentage of the population who have access to the internet.
73.9% of the adult population now have access to the internet, up from 70.1% in the final quarter of 2008.Those shopping for groceries online have grown over the year from 12.4% to 13.6%, whilst all other online shopping is up from 44.1% to 47.5%. Strength across the board.
The largest increase in the age groups came in the 18-24 group, with 52.3% of them now shopping online against 44.6% in Q4 2008. But the 55-64 group were up 4.4% with 47.6% of them engaged, and in third place were the 45-54’s up by 3.8% to 58.6%. In terms of actual market share, 35-44’s lead the way with 24.1%, followed by 45-54’s next at 19.4%.
In Social Grades there is a remarkable uniformity in the increase in penetration across the grades. The largest rise was in the E grade, up by 5.9% from 11.4% to 17.3%, but as they only account for 2.9% of the market, it is perhaps more important to note the second place rise of 3.4% from 38.6% to 42.0% of the C2 social grade, as they now account for 18.1% of total online shoppers.
