Report: UK online shopping to grow by 40 percent by 2020

A report released Friday by the price comparison service uSwitch, 40 percent of retail sales in the UK will be made online by 2020. Such sales made up only 2 percent of all UK sales in 2002, but will reach 15 percent this year, with total sales worth around £40 billion.

One factor in the increase in online sales, according to the report, is that broadband costs have fallen while speed is increasing. This makes it easier and less expensive to shop online than it is to go out and shop in brick and mortar stores. Another factor adding to increased online sales is the fact that there are now over 13 million broadband subscribers in the UK.

The report makes the claim that savings to consumers by shopping online could reach £13 billion per year, or £500 for each household in the UK. Savings in particular categories include 13 percent on groceries, 15 percent on travel and leisure activities, and 21 percent on services, according a spokesman from uSwitch.

The report claims that the 8 million households in the UK that shop online spend an average of 2 hours each day in the activity and spends around £980 per year on online purchases, 10 percent of the average total spent on shopping in a household.

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