UK conqueror Amazon is no High St killer, Mintel

86% of Brits are Amazon users/shoppers, according to research by Mintel involving 2,000 people.

More of them have increased their shopping (21%) with the retailer than decreased it (13%) over the past year. Overall, 70% of them buy items from the e-commerce giant at least once a month, while 17% use it on a weekly basis. 51% assume that it has the cheapest prices, while six in ten say they are loyal to the company. 70% claim it is the first retailer they go to when shopping online.

39% have access to Amazon Prime, with 26% personally being members and a further 13% sharing access through someone else’s account. Scaled to a national level, this places Amazon Prime membership in the UK at around the 15 million mark. 63% of 16-24s and 52% of 25-34s have access to the service. The main draw remains the speedy delivery offered at no extra cost to members, whilst the biggest barrier to recruitment of more members appears to be price. Some 44% of those who have never been members put this down to the scheme being too expensive.

45% of Amazon users believe that the e-tailer is responsible for physical stores closing. Meanwhile, three quarters say they often check the prices of products they see in-store on Amazon. And physical retailers are probably being used as showrooms, as 70% of Amazon shoppers research products elsewhere but then buy via the site. At the same time, however, some 40% of Amazon users believe it supports independent retailers and 29% feel that shopping via Amazon Smile is a good way to give to charity.

“Amazon’s growth has no doubt wounded rivals, but it is not the ‘High Street’ killer that it is often painted out to be. It has certainly led on, and to a degree enforced, many trends that have come to define 21st century retail, however it is not all conquering at present,” says Nick Carroll, Mintel Associate Director of Retail at Mintel.

“Indeed, even if the retailer accounted for roughly 50% of the online market held by online-only retailers, it would only account for around 9% of all UK retail sales. And despite the popularity of online retailing as a whole, the vast majority of all retail sales (82%) in the UK still come through physical stores. This leaves much room for its own growth but equally for rivals to fight back.”