British Online Shopping On The Rise

As online shopping now accounts for 20% of British shopping and continues to grow, retail stores are increasingly being forced to alter their business models in order to keep up with the changing market. In the first half of 2008, online shopping sales increased 38% from the previous six months. Should this growth continue as expected, online spending could reach 50% of all British shopping in the next five years.

June was the only month in the six-month period that experienced a decrease in growth of online shopping. However, it is predicted that the economic downfall will only stimulate online shopping as consumers will turn to the internet to shop for the best bargains. Consumers also find online-shopping to be an extremely convenient and easy way to shop around and research about products that may want to purchase. Increased access to the Internet and improved security of personal information have further contributed to the growth in online shopping.

This is a trend that traditional retail-only stores cannot ignore. Online-only stores, also known as "pure-play" online retailers have exploded in the market taking advantage of the fact that many well known stores overlooked the Internet as a source for marketing and sales. These retail shops will need to begin investing more in the online channels to market their products to be able to compete and maintain their customer base.