Further Data Suggests Online Shopping Popularity Is Set to Remain High

Thursday, May 28, 2020 - 10:14 by Graham Miller

While high street outlets in many parts of the UK will be opening their doors for the first time in more than two months on the 15th of June, plenty of Brits will still be sticking to safe shopping online rather than buying items from bricks and mortar stores.

This finding was made in a new study from ChannelAdvisor, which revealed that 42 per cent of consumers are intending to make use of e-commerce sites and services more regularly than they did before the outbreak of COVID-19 disrupted the retail industry in the UK.

This may be worrying news for firms that rely partly or wholly on the high street to generate sales, but there was also some good news to be gleaned from the study. For example, two-fifths of people questioned said that they had purchased non-essential items online in the past few weeks, which means that even with sales shrinking overall there is still a willingness to spend on luxuries.

Analysts were eager to point out that the pandemic has likely converted many people to the idea of regular online shopping stints, since 45 per cent of people described themselves as rare users of e-commerce sites prior to lockdown. Because many older people have been given little choice but to embrace digital services, a large swathe of the ageing population will likely remain engaged with online outlets in the long term.

Shoppers aged under 35 were far more likely to confirm that they were planning to buy online more often after the stores reopen, with almost two-thirds of people in this group admitting that internet outlets had won them over. This is yet more evidence that the e-commerce sector will enjoy a much needed boost going forwards.