Good Year for British E-commerce

Around half of all British Web users purchased goods online in the run-up to Christmas 2003, capping a very good year for British e-commerce, according to recent research conducted by NOP World. The Internet User Profile Survey (IUPS) found that 10.4m British adults made pre-Christmas purchases, representing a year-on-year growth rate of 21%.

Just over half the purchases (53%) were intended as gifts, with experienced users foregoing the stresses and strains of high-street shopping for the comfort of their home. Scare stories from the past, cautioning against non-delivery of goods and gifts have not been borne out in reality - satisfaction with the online shopping experience is high, averaging 5 out of 5 for price, range & condition of goods, and 4 out of 5 for speed, method & timeliness of delivery.

The top ten purchases by category were: Books, CDs, DVDs, Clothes, Electrical 'brown goods', Toys, Games, Computer products & accessories, Groceries and Holidays, respectively. The Top 5 Retailers in order were: Amazon, E-bay, Argos, Play.com & Tesco.

According to Carl Geraghty, Associate Director at NOP World, 'All in all, 2003 was a very good year for British e-commerce. The growth rates enjoyed at the end of 2002 were consolidated in the summer, and growth continued to the end of the year - for many Britons, the web is the preferred sales channel, delivering time & cost savings - this is especially important at Christmas, where both time and money can often be in short supply'.

Geraghty continues: 'This year should prove to be the most significant to date for the online economy - 63% are shopping more often than last year, and the average shopper expects to their online spend to double throughout 2004.

NOP interviewed 1,601 Internet users aged 15+ by telephone between 1st and 29th of December 2003.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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