Failure to shop online leaves consumers out of pocket

Thursday, January 28, 2016 - 09:28 by Mike Price

A new report from Go On UK has revealed that consumers are missing out on around £744 million in savings because they lack the skills necessary to shop online, according to ComputerWeekly.

The study looked into how the digital skills gap is negatively impacting people across the country, with almost three quarters of those who do know how to compare prices and browse deals online saving over £60 each month, compared with those who are less familiar with e-commerce services.

It is not just a lack of skills which hold back older people from using the web to access safe shopping online, but also a distrust of digital platforms. And, as a result, it is largely those who have grown up in the age of e-commerce that are in a position to take advantage of the savings that are available.

Report spokesperson, Martha Lane Fox, said that more needs to be done in order to ensure that no one in the UK has to watch the e-commerce revolution pass them by, while also highlighting the concerns held by many consumers in the UK who are over the age of 60.

Two thirds of this group who fall into the category of lacking digital skills said that they are not confident that their privacy will be protected if they shop online. A similar proportion said that the internet does not hold any interest for them.

Both of these viewpoints correlate with the idea that without being able to experience what the web has to offer, people will either be hostile to it or entirely indifferent. And campaigners are hoping to overcome this state of affairs and get older people online in larger numbers, so that they can save money.