Research highlights Brits’ digital behaviour amid coronavirus pandemic

92.4% of Brits have visited an online store in the past month, with 85.5% making a transaction, according to research from Hootsuite and We Are Social.

This also finds that those of us aged between 45-54 and 55-64 are making the most online purchases during the latest coronavirus lockdown (87.5% and 86.1% respectively).

Last month saw the highest UK online sales since the coronavirus pandemic began (+74% YoY), and the highest January sales on record since 2008, according to research from @imrgupdate and @Capgemini #ecommerce #onlineshopping #coronavirus #Lockdown3 https://t.co/wSrSn0zMtr
— RTIH (@RTIH_RetailTech) February 9, 2021

Other key findings include: we invested more on DIY, toys and hobbies last year - $17.72 billion, an increase of 16.1% compared to 2019 - than we did on food and personal care - $15.87 billion, up 28% compared to 2019.

We splashed out $32.53 billion on fashion and beauty, $16.36 billion on electronics and physical media and $14.56 billion on furniture and appliances in 2020.

The total value of the e-commerce goods market in the UK is $97.03 billion, according to the research.

24.82 million of us use online services to order takeaway food, with the total value of the market being $5.99 billion, an increase of 23% since 2019.

Despite the dominance of social media in our everyday lives, the British public are still very traditional when it comes to discovering and researching brands. 39.5% do so via search engines, 37.5% via word of mouth and, 37.1% via ads on TV.