Online Shopping Growth Attributed to Generation X Consumers

Thursday, February 20, 2020 - 14:03 by Graham Miller

Consumers at the older end of the Generation X spectrum, falling between 45 and 54 years old, are making a significant contribution to the success of safe shopping online in the UK today.

This is according to a new study from YouGov that revealed that 22 per cent of consumers in this age group placed online orders 50 times or more in an average year. This suggests that weekly sessions of e-commerce are entirely normal for Gen X-ers.

Such a thirst for online shopping is not as common amongst younger people, with Millennials averaging 10 e-commerce purchases every 12 months, along with the majority of Gen Z consumers being only marginally more engaged with this practice.

Another intriguing revelation to come out of the study is that the Gen X shoppers covered by it were less interested in quick shipping for their online orders, with 17 per cent claiming that there had been no point in their lives as consumers in which fast next-day delivery was a necessity.

The report delved further into the issue of delivery services, finding that 43 per cent of people across all age ranges had made use of a neighbour to accept a parcel if they were not around to take it in themselves. Almost a fifth said that they often missed deliveries due to other commitments getting in the way, which points to this part of the process being the least efficient.

As almost 10 million packages are delivered nationwide each day, experts are eager to see more efforts being made to prevent missed deliveries and make it easier for consumers to receive the items they order on time. Older shoppers are happier for goods to be left with neighbours than their younger counterparts, so this solution seems like the best to embrace going forwards.