Brits are up for e-commerce [BT broadband office]

Brits are up for e-commerce

Posted 17 August 2007 at 8:45AM by Simon Dickson in Doing business online

All too often, the internet research I come across is US-centric. So it's great to note the publication of a 'state of the nation' report by the University of Oxford's Internet Institute, concentrating solely on these islands.

The Oxford Internet Survey 2007 is a free PDF download, full of useful numbers. It won't come as any surprise to note that broadband access is increasing, or that students are more likely to use the internet than senior citizens. But it is interesting to note, for example, that 'gender does not play a role for e-commerce activities in Britain.'

As a nation, we are now very open to the idea of e-commerce, with 84% saying it was 'easy' to order products from websites, 83% saying there was a better range online, and 79% saying prices on the internet were lower. But problems remain in the areas of product returns and exchanges, with 38% saying it was 'difficult'.

And even if online selling isn't for you, it's still worth having an online presence: across all demographic groups, people were highly likely to use the web to research a purchase, even if they didn't go on to make the purchase online.

Tags: ecommerce, online shopping, oxford internet study, statistics

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Comments

1. At August 17, 2007 2:20 PM, Alasdair McTavish wrote:

Personally I perfer to look at shops on the high street and if I see something I like I'll read up reviews and look for the cheapest price online. Depending on what it is, I perfer to actually see something in the flesh before I purchase it.

Online reviews can be a little missleading these days though as the majority of them are of customers personal reviews. These days a lot of companies employ people to specificaly go around website and rave about their products. I have recently been looking to purchase a new TV and PC monitor but there are no trustworth reviews out there.

2. At August 19, 2007 2:10 PM, J G Dawson wrote:

Personally, I would say that this is in no small part due to the effects of eBay - who, it seems to me, have made a valuable contribution towards making buying on the internet safer and easier - Yes, I know things have gone wrong from time to time - but then that's teething for you...

3. At August 20, 2007 10:07 AM, Umaga wrote:

in Samoa i found a lot of help in buying things from eBay, its a trend i have continued since i have moved into the bright lights.

I just wish i could have a 3 Minute Warning when my bids are going to end!

FOR SAMOA!
umaga.

4. At August 21, 2007 1:10 PM, Chris Paton wrote:

As much as I know that online shopping is safe these days, it still worries me about buying products over the net, due to a few reasons;

1. I don't have anyway of know exactly what the product is like until I have it, then it's normally too late

2. Actually getting the product is the problem, making sure it's not damaged, or seeing that the R.Mail actually delivers it to your house. As I went 3 months not getting mail as the mailman didn't even bother coming to our building....

But apart from that there are somethings that you cannot purchase unless you shop online and getting the better price these days means online shopping.

5. At August 22, 2007 7:19 AM, Mark Thorpe wrote:

[Umaga, search google for ebay snipe....i think that'll fix your 3 minute warning problem...]

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