55+ eCommerce statistics for the UK in 2024

Over the past 35 years, has any creation changed the world as categorically as the internet? From access to information to communication, it has revolutionised, for better or for worse, the world we live in.

The emergence of eCommerce companies, such as Amazon, has also affected shopping habits, with more people than ever relying on home deliveries instead of going to physical stores.

To discover more about this evolution, we used the market research company Censuswide to poll a demographically representative sample of  2,017 UK adults, asking all about their shopping habits and influences. We also analysed hundreds of thousands of online searches and collated the most up-to-date statistics!

eCommerce Statistics: The Quick Facts

If you’re only looking for the highlights, here are the main take away points. Think of it as our handy same-day delivery service:

• 63% of UK adults in 2024 still prefer to do their food shop online rather than in store.
• Search engines, such as Google are the number one way people find new products or brands online (38%).
• This is followed by friends and family recommendations, which are still important for a third of people.
• Meanwhile, social media ads are the third most common way people find new products or brands to shop (23%).
• People in the South West have the biggest preference for online shopping, with 1 in 5 stating they’d rather make all of their purchases online.
• Social media ads tend to influence women the most, with 27% saying this is one of the main ways they get recommendations for new products vs just 19% of men.
• The older we are, the more we are to rely on search engines like Google to discover new products and brands.
• In contrast, social media ads are most influential to young people’s buying decisions.

Online shopping statistics: Which products do people in the UK prefer to buy online?

Some of us swear by checking the quality of things like groceries in store rather than buying online, whilst others are a little more happy to get we’re given! But exactly how much of the population has this preference? And how does it differ depending on the type of product we’re buying?

To find out, we asked our survey participants:

‘What types of products, if any, do you prefer to purchase in physical stores rather than online? (choose all that apply)’

(Please note: Responses do not add up to 100% as respondents were able to select multiple responses)

Our survey revealed:

• Almost two thirds (63%) of UK adults prefer to do their food shop online rather than go to the supermarket, which equates to 34.7 million people aged 16 or over*.
• Despite this, food remains the type of product people are most likely to buy in a physical store (37%).
• This is followed by shoes (33%), clothing (32%) and flowers and plants (29%).
• When it comes to prescriptions, almost a quarter of UK adults would rather go to a pharmacy in person then ordering it online.
• Alcohol is also in the top 10 list of things people want to shop for in person, alongside beauty products.

*According to the latest estimates by the Welsh Government, there are 55.2 million people aged 16 or over in the United Kingdom.

Which products do people prefer to buy online?

Despite customers still having some preference for in-store shopping, there are many products that UK adults say they’d much rather buy online. For instance:

• Far more people would rather shop online for home fitness equipment than in store (93%).
• The same goes for DVDs, CDs and vinyls, with the majority of people saying they’d rather browse online for these products.
• 90% of UK adults would rather shop online than in store for children’s toys.
• 88% say they’d prefer to buy DIY equipment and garden furniture online than in store.
• And 86% would rather shop online for kitchen appliances and gardening equipment than do so in-person.
• 85% of UK adults say they’d rather buy electronics online.
• And when shopping for indoor furniture, 83% would prefer to do so online.

Online vs in-store shopping trends by gender

Which shopping methods are most popular amongst different genders? And how does this change depending on the product we’re buying?

Our survey found that overall, both men and women prefer to shop online rather than in store, but this does differ depending on the product in question. As you can see from the chart:

• Significantly more women than men prefer to go physical shops to buy flowers and plants (35% vs 22.5%).
• More women would also rather go to the pharmacy to get their prescription in-person (27%) compared with just 20% of men.
• This also applies to over-the-counter health products and jewellery.

On the other hand:

• 5% of men prefer to go to the store to buy alcohol compared to 19.5% of women.
• The same applies with DIY equipment (14% of men vs 9.5% of women).
• When it comes to shoes, however, the gender split is pretty even, with 33% of both men and women showing a preference for in-person shopping.

Online shopping statistics by age

As to be expected, our survey found that the older people are, the more likely they are to want to shop in store, whilst younger adults tend to prefer online shopping. In fact:

• Nearly half of over 55 (47.5%) prefer to buy food in supermarkets compared to just 22% of those aged 16-24.
• The same applies for shoes, with 43% of those aged 55+ wanting to try them on in store first, compared with 18% of 16-24s.
• Another big difference can be seen with prescription medication, as only 12% of 16-24-year-olds would go to a pharmacy to get them, compared to 34% of those aged 55+.

eCommerce statistics by UK region

One of the main takeaways from this set of data is that Northern Ireland remains the region of the United Kingdom where people prefer to go to physical stores the most.

Out of the 21 products put forward to respondents, Northern Ireland topped the data in nine of them:

• Food (42.11%)
• Clothing (36.84%)
• Over-the-counter health products (33.33%)
• Jewellery (29.82%)
• Beauty products (24.56%)
• Electronics (21.05%)
• Kitchen appliances (19.30%)
• Gardening equipment (17.54%)

This correlates directly with the data below, showing that people from Northern Ireland are the least likely to make all their purchases online.

• On the other hand, people in the South West, Scotland and the North East are more likely to prefer to purchase products online.

Marketing statistics: how do people discover new products in 2024?

Has social media changed the way people shop? Do people still trust the recommendations of family and friends? Let’s find out.

We put forward a second question to our participants, asking:

‘How, if at all, do you generally discover new products or brands to purchase? (Select up to three)’

(Please note: Responses do not add up to 100% as respondents were able to select multiple responses)

As you can see:

• Search engine results top the table, with 38% stating this is the main way they find out about new brands or products, highlighting just how important SEO is for eCommerce brands.
• More than a third of people still value recommendations from friends and family, meaning that word of mouth isn’t dead just yet!
• Just over 1 in 5 of people use social media ads to discover new products and brands (23%).
• Email newsletters are an important part of the product discovery process for 14% of UK adults.
• Whilst almost 1 in 10 take influencer endorsements into account.

How does the discovery of new eCommerce brands and products differ by gender?

• Women are far likelier to listen to recommendations from friends and family (37%) than men (31%).
• Women are also more likely to be influenced by social media ads (27% vs 19% of men).

How does our discovery of new products or brands change as we age?

Does the preconception that younger generations are easily influenced by social media when it comes to product consumption ring true?

As you can see from the data above:

• The 16-24 age bracket listen to influencers far more (22%) than those aged 55 and above (2%)
• The same applies to social media ads, as the youngest generation heavily rely on them (35%) compared to their older contemporaries (11.5%).
• However, this trend is directly reversed with search engine results and recommendations from friends or family, where older people tend to be far more influenced.

Discovering products or brands by region

Do Londoners listen to influencers more than people up North? This is something we were able to find out thanks to these results, and some might surprise you, as we give you the highs and the lows for each method of discovering new brands of products:

As you can see:

• People living in the West Midlands are those who trust endorsements from influencers the most; nearly three times as much as residents of Yorkshire and the Humber.
• Scotland-based people are the most likely to follow recommendations from friends and family and least likely to find new products and brands from search engine results.
• More than twice as many people in Northern Ireland discover new products and brands via social media ads than people in the West Midlands.
• Meanwhile, more than a quarter of people in Wales use recommendations from online retailers to find out new products and brands.

eCommerce Trends Overtime in the UK

So now we know the state of eCommerce in the UK in 2024, but how has it looked overtime?

• Just under a third (32.5%) of all retail sales were eCommerce sales in 2020.
• Terms such as ‘buy food online’, ‘buy toilet paper online’ and ‘buy clothes online’ all had peaks as we entered the coronavirus lockdown.

• A couple of years later, 2022 saw UK online sales reach their highest annual growth since 2007, increasing by 36%.
• Then in 2023, the UK had nearly 60 million eCommerce users.
• This is expected to increase to 1 million by 2025.
• The UK also has the third-largest eCommerce market in the world after China and the USA.

We hope our eCommerce statistics have provided you with some food for thought If you’d like more information or further data from our study above, please get in touch! And if you’d like to increase your eCommerce brand’s performance, our PPC, SEO and social media teams are happy to help.