Over half of Brits now shop for groceries online

Over half of UK adults (54%) now do some or all of their food shopping online, according to research carried out on behalf of thinkmoney. Most (48%) combine online orders with trips to stores, but 6% say that they only shop for groceries online.

People aged 18-24 are the most likely to do all their food shopping online with 1 in 10 (10%) claiming to do so, compared to just 3% of people over 55 years old.

thinkmoney’s research shows that people are converting to online grocery shopping very quickly. Of those that do some or all of their shopping online, 36% have only started doing so in the past year.

Londoners have led the way towards online shopping. Just 24% of the capital’s residents say that they do all their food shopping in store (compared to 46% nationwide). Two thirds of Londoners (66%) combine online and in-store food shopping and a further 9% say they only buy food online.

Interestingly, 22% of shoppers said that they had a set list of groceries that they ordered online and they simply stuck to that list as a way of saving money.

thinkmoney’s Ian Williams commented: “Most people now do at least some of their food shopping online – and it is clear that the shift towards online shopping has been very rapid, even over the past twelve months.

“For many people, shopping online isn’t just about convenience or time saving, it is also a useful way to control their spending and to help them stick to a budget. Walking round the supermarket it is easy to be tempted by products and to throw things into your basket without always clocking the price – and then get a nasty surprise at the till. Shopping online gives customers a lot more control: they can see a running total of how much they’ve spent as they place items in their online basket, so there is no nasty surprise at the checkout.”  

*OnePoll questioned a nationally representative sample of 2,000 adults aged 18 and over between 19th December and 30th December 2014, of whom 635 were in Scotland.