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Brits: An e-Retailer's Dream

Thursday, March 4, 2010 - 11:31 by Mike Price

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There is good news for those with UK-based eCommerce retailers-us Brits like our online shopping! Recent figures calculated by the Office for National Statistics suggest that last year, a higher percentage of adults in the UK looked to the internet when it came to buying goods or ordering services than adults in any other country in the European Union. Clearly, we trust the internet to provide a satisfying and safe shopping online experience.

The Eurostat figures were part of a report which dealt with Social Trends. The report revealed that some 66 per cent of people aged 16-74 in the UK had bought goods or services online during 2009. Meanwhile, the average number of adults who had done the same across the EU as a whole was just 37 percent. The Germans, meanwhile, are almost as into shopping online as the UK, notching up 56 per cent of adults in the report, whilst 45 per cent of adults in France turn to the net for their goods and services.

The report on social trends which contained the figures was just one of many pieces of research the Office of National Statistics has carried out in looking at consumer activity over the years. The Office of National Statistics is Britain's biggest statistical producer, researching and producing many reports for the British Government. It also reports on areas such as demography and population, unemployment and birth rates.

Other reports into this particular facet of consumer activity have included a study, carried out by Nomensa, which looked at the location in which UK adults do their online shopping. This found that UK shoppers are more likely to make online purchases while carrying out safe shopping online at work. Although users actually spend more time browsing at home, the actual transactions are more likely to occur while in the office.