Ofcom: Pandemic pushes UK to spend over £110bn online for the first time
The UK’s adults, after spending more time online than other European countries, have racked up a digital shopping bill of more than £110bn for the first time since records began.
With more time spent in front of desktops, smartphones or tablets in 2020 than in other European countries, more than 3.5 hours a day Ofcom said, Brits peddled a near £2.45bn into apps – with Tinder, Disney+, YouTube and Netflix topping the list.
With high streets eerily quiet after a string of national lockdowns, Brits took to online shopping like a duck to water, according to Ofcom’s survey of national internet usage published today.
UK online shopping sales soared by 48 per cent to nearly £113bn in 2020, while food and drinks retailers saw the biggest swell in sales, up 82 per cent on 2019 levels.
Lockdown learning also spelled growth for the younger generation’s online purchasing power, as teenagers have been splashing 36 per cent more cash online than offline since last spring.
Social distancing measures also prompted a good season for dating and social apps. However, it also led to a surge in ‘romance scams’, as the money last to fraudsters grew by 12 per cent to £18.5m.
Popular Gen Z social media app TikTok enjoyed an explosion of growth since the pandemic began last year, with its users swelling from 3m in 2019 to 14m by 2021.
The app’s growth was egged on by 97 per cent of the UK’s adult internet users and 92 per cent of three to four years olds who use social video apps as endless scrolling distracted from the realities of multiple lockdowns.