PRESS RELEASE
Nationwide study into online and high-street shopping habits reveals today's UK retail landscape
30 January 2012, London - Amidst the doom and gloom of the retail industry in January, a new nationwide study commissioned by Basekit.com, the world's leading website builder, has revealed how Brits are actually shopping online and on the high street. Highlights from the research include:
- The over 55s are theUK's biggest online shopperswith 86% shopping regularly online. 36% of these silver surfers now say that they do their majority of shopping online, rather than on the high street, and 6% expect to do all their shopping online in the future. Young people aged 25-34 are the least likely to shop online with 13% claiming that they never do it
- Brits spend double the time browsing shops online than they do on the high street. On average, Brits spend over 2.4 hours a week shopping online, compared to an average of 1.2 hours spent window shopping on the high street. In fact, 1 in 8 (12.6%) Brits spend more than 5 hours a week shopping online, compared to just 1 in 50 (2.1%) who spend that long shopping on the high street
- But it's not all doom and gloom for the high street - average spend in bricks and mortar shops is higher than in online stores. Brits are still choosing to buy high value items such as cars from retailers they can actually visit, leading to higher average monthly spend in physical stores of £126 per month, compared to £116 in online shops
- Metrosexual men catching up women in time spent shopping. Despite women's reputation as the biggest shoppers, surprisingly women only spend 12% more time shopping than men, spending on average 3.3.hours per week shopping (2.3 hours online and 1.0 hours in store) compared to 2.9 hours per week for men (2.1 hours online and 0.8 hours in store)
- Men are the UK's biggest spenders. Despite spending less time shopping, men spend nearly a third more each month than women with an average spend of £273.15 (£127.93 online and £145.22 in store) compared to just £212.78 (£105.42 online and £107.36 in store) for women
- Geordies are the UK's biggest shoppers, but Londoners are the biggest spenders. People living in the North East spend the most time shopping with over 4 hours a week dedicated to this activity. But Londoners are the biggest spenders with an average monthly shop of £383.01 (£183.17 online and £199.84 in store)
"When it comes to the UK retail environment, the majority of stories are all doom and gloom about local and national stores struggling to keep afloat during these difficult financial times. However, our research shows that Brits are still keen shoppers with people spending many hours a week shopping," said Chris Winstanley, VP, Marketing, Basekit.com.
"What this research does highlight is that Brits are increasingly taking that shopping behaviour online, and it's not just young people. With silver surfers now the UK's biggest online shoppers, retail outlets must consider their websites as - if not more - important as their physical stores to cater to this group, and should be developing sites that are easier for these older people to navigate - for example, by having large-text options and obvious navigational markers. With this information at their fingertips, we hope that UK retailers will be able to make informed decisions about their online footprint and develop websites that will help them take advantage of the British obsession with shopping," continued Winstanley.
Motivations for shopping online
The research also investigated why people are choosing to shop online than from the high street. Convenience was cited as the number one reason by a large majority (60.5%) of Brits, with over half (53.4%) also citing that online items are better value. For silver surfers, the ability to get products delivered to their house so they don't need to carry them was also a prime motivator to shop online with three-fifths (59.2%) saying that was a major reason. You also have to wonder what young people are buying online, with 16% of 18-24 year olds explaining that they prefer to shop online - as it allows them to buy products anonymously that they find too embarrassing to buy in person.
When asked about why they'd choose to shop from the high street rather than from online shops, the ability to try and test out the product before buying was the top choice for three-quarters (73.4%) of Brits. This was particularly important for older people with only 60% of 25-34 year olds saying that it was a main reason, compared to 83.4% of the over 55s. For young people, it seems that shopping is increasingly viewed as a hobby with a third of 18-24 year olds (30.8%) and 25-34 year olds (31.1%) saying that shopping on the high street gave them something to do!
Regional breakdown
According to the data, Brits across the country have different shopping habits. People in the North-East spend the most time shopping, spending on average 4 hours a week shopping compared to lowest ranked region of South East who spend just 2.5 hours. Londoners are the biggest spenders with an average monthly spend of each month of £383.01 (£183.17 online and £199.84 in store) compared to just £177.50 (£79.25 online and £98.25 in store) spent each month on average in the West Midlands.
About BaseKit
BaseKit was founded in 2008 and is the simple way to create, host and manage a website. Individuals and companies can create their own design by uploading an image or by selecting one of the professionally designed templates, and then publish instantly. Hosting is included in the monthly subscription and there's a free demo account.
Basekit won Seedcamp in 2008 and has subsequently received investment from Eden Ventures, NESTA and Nauta Capital.
