- 1 in 5 online purchases are not made at the expense of the high street but additional spending
- Online spending to reach £39 billion in 2010 with each online shopper spending £865
Internet shopping is creating a boom in consumer spending as an extra £3.2 billion will be spent by 2010 that would not have been spent on the high street according to PayPal, the online payments provider. This will push the total online spending figure up to a massive £39 billion, with each online shopper spending £865 on average. There will be 24.9 million shoppers in 2010 - a rise of 71% compared to 2005 figures - and these will account for 49% of the adult population which reveals the true size of the future e-market.
Research commissioned by PayPal reveals that although 80% of internet spending is taking spend away from traditional retailers, one in five purchases made online is not at the expense of the high street. The ease and convenience of online shopping combined with cheaper prices and the 24 hour access to buying online means that shopping on the internet is blossoming and driving new consumer spend.
PayPal and Datamonitor data predicts there will be nearly 25 million online shoppers in the UK by 2010, a rise of 10 million in the next four years. Each shopper is predicted to spend an average of £48 per online transaction. PayPal found that nearly half of UK adults (43%) claim price is the overriding factor pushing them to shop online, something that is particularly true for electrical (49%) and music purchases (53%). With two-thirds (66%) of us likely to have access to broadband at home, shopping online in 2010 will be quicker and easier than ever before.
Neil Edwards, Head of Financial Planning and Analysis at PayPal UK said: "Shopping online has become as common as popping out to your local high street and fits perfectly into our fast-paced time-poor society. With the safety and security of online shopping firmly established with the UK public factors like price, convenience and availability will drive more and more shoppers to make purchases that simply wouldn't have happened anywhere else."
Thousands of online retailers are already feeling the benefits of the UK's love of online shopping, with sectors like food and groceries, electrical, and clothing and footwear all expected to do well from the surge in online spending. To set up a PayPal account please log onto: www.paypal.co.uk
For further information please contact:
Chloe Mann, Lansons Communications on 0207 294 3681 or chloem@lansons.com
Sean Williams, Lansons Communications on 0207 294 3690 or seanw@lansons.com
Sophie Lilley, Lansons Communications on 020 7 294 3657 or sophiel@lansons.com
Cristina De Parres on 020 8605 3218 or cdeparres@paypal.com
Notes to editor
The online shopping research was conducted in March 2006 for PayPal Europe by Datamonitor
About PayPal (Europe) Ltd
PayPal (Europe) Ltd. is a UK-based company, regulated by the FSA as an Electronic Money Institution (ELMI) and became regulated by the FSA as such in February 2004. As a regulated institution, we are subject to general prudential supervision by the FSA. It is a subsidiary of PayPal (International) Ltd., which is based in Dublin and is in turn a subsidiary of PayPal Inc. of San Jose, California. PayPal is 100% owned by eBay. PayPal was set up in the US in December 1998 and acquired by eBay in 2002. PayPal has over 10M accounts in the UK, over 114M accounts worldwide and can be used to make online payments in 55 markets.
About Datamonitor
Datamonitor plc is a premium business information company specializing in industry analysis. Datamonitor helps its clients, 5000 of the world's leading companies, to address complex strategic issues. Through its proprietary databases and wealth of expertise, Datamonitor provides clients with unbiased expert analysis and in-depth forecasts for six industry sectors: Automotive, Consumer Markets, Energy, Financial Services, Healthcare, Technology. Datamonitor maintains its headquarters in London and has regional offices in New York, Frankfurt, Sydney and Tokyo.