Nearly every British adult now seeks “retail therapy” through digital stores

A new study indicates that the internet has become the UK’s primary source for “retail therapy” over high street shops, as almost every adult across Britain now reports purchasing various goods via online stores on a high-frequency basis.

New research from mobile phone accessory supplier Case Monkey assessed data drawn from ONS to find that 87% of British adults report using online stores to purchase goods last year.

Overall, use of online stores has increased 40% on figures from 10 years ago, where only 62% of the population reported buying something online within a 12-month period.

Concerning the ages of online shoppers, those the most likely to “add to basket” appear to be within the ages of 25-34, with almost all young Brits (99%) stating to have used online shopping over the course of 2020.

Adults aged 16-24 are the next most likely to buy goods online, at 96%, while a shared 95% of adults aged between 35-44 and 45-54 round off the highest users of digital stores.

Despite a lower overall percentage of 65%, those aged 65+ have seen the highest increase in use of online shopping over the past decade; The number of senior citizens making use of online stores has soared by almost 200% on figures from ten years ago, at which point only 22% of citizens of the same age range reported shopping online.