The number of UK adults connecting to the Internet each month is approaching 50 percent of the population, uptake is slowing while Internet use steadily increases.
At present, 22.5 million British adults (48% of the population) use the Internet once a month or more today, up from 21.6 million adults (47% of the population) in June 2001, according to latest biannual UK Internet User Monitor survey by Forrester Research.
ìDespite the slowing penetration of regular Internet users and the well-publicized dotcom bust, the web continues to impact on British buying behaviour; the number of consumers using the Internet to buy consumer goods and services is growing unabated,î said William Reeve, Forresterís group director of European Data Products.
According to the surveyís results, around 14 million of UK Internet users have used the net to buy or order products and services. This represents growth of more than 50% compared with the 9 million British consumers who had bought online a year ago.
The Internet to research future purchases is now one of the top three regular online activities. After sending email (72%) and using search engines (66%), more than half of UK Internet users (53%) said they researched products and services online. A further 12% said that they had bought a product or service offline (through a shop or dealer) as a result of their research online.
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UK Internet access close to 50 percentaccording to latest biannual UK
Internet User Monitor survey by Forrester Research
