Brits flash the Net cash – £2bn a month

Hey, Quite Big Spenders

British adults are buying £2 billion a month worth of stuff over the Net.

Research from the Royal Bank of Scotland discovered 51 per cent of men with internet access used the Web every single day compared to around 41 per cent of women – another 26 per cent of men used the Web at least three times a week.

Most respondents spent less than £100 online in an average month, reflecting the popularity of low-cost items purchased via the Internet, but ten per cent admitted to spending more than this.

The average online spend across genders and age groups was just over £86 per person, per month, but the bigger spenders were males who spent an average of £95.

The survey found that 25–34 year-olds used the Internet every day. Although older people were less likely to have the internet, those who did in fact surf the net – "silver surfers" - did so more frequently than those in younger age groups - 43% of older internet users used it everyday compared to only 28% of 16-24 year olds.

Richard Johnson, Head of eCommerce at the Royal Bank of Scotland, said the results demonstrated some interesting demographic differences in people’s online behaviours.

CDs, DVDS and videos (41 per cent ) and books (31 per cent) remain the most popular internet purchases - nearly one in three women (31 per cent) but only 18 per cent of men have bought clothes online and 26 per cent of all adults have purchased travel online.

Nearly a quarter – 22 per cent – of all women have bought groceries or wine over the web but 10 per cent of men have done the same.

In contrast nine per cent of men but only 2 per cent of women have purchased electrical goods online.

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