British Consumers Prefer the Web over the Store

Why go to the store when you can shop online? This could be the motto of the British consumer. According to a survey by KPMG most British consumers prefer to shop online rather than going to the high street store. Three in four (74 per cent) of British consumers say they are more likely to buy flights and vacations online and 77 per cent prefer to buy CDs, DVDs, books and video games online.

	Britain	Global
Prefer to buy flights and vacations online	74%	70%
Prefer to buy CDs, DVDs and books and video games online	77%	65%

Source: KPMG (December 2011)

However, when it comes to luxury items most people say they prefer to go to the store and four in ten consumers still seem to avoid grocery shopping online. This is especially evident in America where more than three in four say they would book a flight online, but only 21 per cent say they are more likely to buy groceries online.

Tablets
When shopping in a store almost half (45 per cent) of the British use their mobile phone or device to find the nearest store, a third (32 per cent) use their phone or mobile device to research products and services, 30 per cent use their phone or device for online coupons and one in five (19 per cent) scan barcodes for product information. Globally 41% research products and services and almost a quarter pay with their mobile device.

Mobil device usage	Britain
Locate store	45%
Research products	32%
Online coupons	30%
Scan barcodes for product information	19%

Source: KPMG (December 2011)

Ratings and reviews
When buying products or services the majority of customers in the UK and globally consult feedback and ratings pages on the internet or get information on social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

See news release by KPMG.