SciVisum study reveals spending chasm, with the North taking the lead

9 May, 2006 - Nearly three quarters of UK shoppers are turning their backs on the high street to shop online, with an average spend of £89 per month. One in ten UK consumers confessed they would splurge £5000 or more on a single purchase. One in twenty are purchasing their cars or houses online.

A striking chasm has been revealed in online shopping habits between consumers living in different regions, but surprisingly, it is not a straightforward North-South divide. Unexpectedly, central London had the fewest online shoppers, with an astounding 49.5 per cent never shopping online - versus only a quarter (26 per cent) across the rest of the UK. Meanwhile the North was found to have the most extravagant online spenders and to be the most willing to buy cars and houses online.

These are the key findings of the SciVisum eCommerce Regional Rift Study, undertaken across the UK by web testing specialist SciVisum. The research confirmed the ubiquity of eCommerce in the mass market, with room for growth identified in larger purchases such as cars and houses which are yet to hit the mainstream. The research also revealed a surprising gulf in shopping patterns across the UK.

Who’s spending the most?
Overall, Northerners were the biggest online spenders. Consumers living in the North-East had the highest majority spend each month. A third of consumers in the region had a monthly online spend totals between £50 and £100 a month, versus a majority spend of no greater than £50 monthly in other regions.

Meanwhile the biggest spenders were found to be those in the North West. Almost one in five North Westerners admitted they would splash out £5000 or more on a single purchase, closely followed by Scots and Londoners. However, their counterparts in the South West and South East said they absolutely never would.

The South West and Scotland had the largest proportion of small-time spenders. Two thirds said they never spent more than £50 per month online, with 40 per cent of South Westerners never spending more than £20. Midlanders shopped most frequently online, with 26 per cent doing so on a weekly basis.

What are they buying?

The most popular items in the virtual shopping baskets of 75 per cent of online shoppers are books and CD’s. Just over half (56 per cent) of consumers buy their holidays online; and nearly half buy electrical goods (45 per cent) and clothes (42 per cent). 28 per cent buy groceries online and 22 per cent financial services. However, large purchases such as cars (5 per cent) and houses (2 per cent) are yet to hit the mainstream.

Only those in the North West, Scotland and London were willing to buy houses online, with people living in the North West region twice as likely to buy houses online than anywhere else in the UK: one in ten North Westerners claimed to buy houses online. The Scots are most likely to buy cars, with 14 per cent buying them online.

In the South West, electrical goods and holidays have around two thirds of shoppers clicking on the buy button. The North East was the only region where books and CDs were not the most popular items bought: instead it’s clothes (63 per cent) that are most likely to get shoppers entering their credit card details. Two thirds of South Westerners, Scots and Londoners bought holidays online.

Midlanders, North Easterners, and Londoners were most likely to buy their groceries online, with a third buying them online. The Midlands showed the highest uptake of financial services, with over a quarter (28 per cent) buying them online.

"With three quarters of people now shopping online, the competition between retailers to attract online business is going to really hot up," said Deri Jones, CEO, SciVisum. "The massive combined spending power of online shoppers means retailers will need to think long and hard about how to attract and keep their customers. Our findings also challenge many previous stereotypes. The big spenders are now just as likely to live in the north as in London."

Methodology
SciVisum surveyed 1000 people between the ages of 18 and 60 at mainland stations across the UK in April 2006. Questions examined buying and spending habits; frequency of online shopping; attitudes to online shopping; and attitudes to online delivery and customer service.