Internet shopping boom coming to an end as it reaches full maturity
The internet shopping boom is levelling off as the channel reaches full maturity, the Transactis Home Shopping Index has revealed, with just an 8% growth from last year.
The growth is down from its rise of 20% in 2009, 35% in 2008, and 58% in 2007.
Transactis compiled complete online and mail order transactional data from its retail partners, not just representative figures for the five year survey, which found that the biggest growth in internet shopping over the five-year period covered by the index came from consumers aged 18 to 24. This group spent 1076% more online in 2010 than in 2006.
Michael Green, director of insight at Transactis, said: “The figures from the index seem to confirm that, in total, home shopping has been hit by the economic uncertainty of the last couple of years while also undergoing a fundamental transition. But to say there has basically been a linear shift from mail order to web shopping is too simplistic.
“What we have seen is massive growth in home shopping by younger consumers, as those under 45 have vastly boosted their home shopping spend over the last five years and adopted the internet as their primary purchasing point. Meanwhile, those aged 45 and over are spending less overall on home shopping – the total spending among the over 75s contracting by nearly a third over the five-year period – but spending more on the web.”
For an in depth look at this research, visit the Insight section.