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Online shopping tops poll of tech innovations

Thursday, January 30, 2014 - 10:36 by Graham Miller

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British consumers have cast votes to rate the most significant technology to have emerged so far in the 21st century, with shopping online being selected as the top solution which impacts our everyday lives, according to the Daily Mail.

E-commerce managed to take first place ahead of online banking, mobile internet access, being able to record live TV to a set top box and video streaming.

The study was conducted on behalf of E.ON, and shopping online took the lion's share of the votes, although the survey also revealed that people in the UK are not natural early adopters of technology.

Nine in ten people prefer to avoid new innovations until they have experienced them vicariously through another user. This perhaps explains why there is still plenty of room for the e-commerce market to grow, in spite of the fact that Brits have been able to shop online for almost two decades.

The good news is that the vast majority of respondents to the survey said that technology has improved their quality of life in some shape or form, especially in the wake of the 21st century's arrival.

Almost 50 per cent of those questioned said that when online shopping was first made available, they were not certain that it would be able to outdo the high street and survive long into the future. However, this scepticism has drained away over the years and more people than ever make web-based purchases today.

Three quarters of respondents said they use online banking facilities, but almost half admitted to feeling nervous about the levels of security available to them, while carrying out financial activities.

There is, however, a good deal of trust in e-commerce and this should help to keep the market moving.