There are around 16 million internet users in the UK and this year 45% of them are women, according to the Annual Internet Survey from Which?. This is a 6% increase on last year and continues to narrow the gap between male and female web usage.
There survey also shows that almost 8 million people have now shopped online; in 1998 fewer than 1 million had done so. The variety of products bought online is also increasing – 13% of people have now purchased goods outside the most popular books, CDs and software categories.
Nevertheless, attitudes to online shopping have changed little in the last year, says the report. Only 1 in 10 feels that the internet offers better customer service than High Street shopping and opinion on the safety of using credit cards online remains divided. The percentage of Net users who shop online has remained broadly the same year on year.
The Which? research shows that take-up of the internet is currently faster among the C2DE social groups than the ABC1s who drove the initial uptake. However, ABC1s still dominate and account for 70% of users.
Age remains a big determinant of web usage. Almost half of all users are under 35, and over 55s still only account for 10%.
Last year Which? identified a sizeable group of people saying it would never connect to the internet – generally for reasons of cost or relevance. This group remains stubbornly resistant, the new survey reveals. Around a third of British adults say they will never go online and this resistance increases dramatically with age – over two-thirds of people over 55 say they are not interested.
Looking ahead, Which? predicts that whilst the UK internet population will continues to rise, with around 16 million already online the rate of growth is likely to decline.
