UK online shoppers top global spending survey

Online shoppers in Britain spend more per household than consumers in any other country, the UK Cards Association said in a report.

UK households spent the equivalent of $5,900 using payment cards online in 2015, the BBC quoted the report as saying on Thursday.

This was higher than Norway ($5,400), the US ($4,500) and Australia ($4,000).

The association suggested the frequency of debit and credit cards and the ease of delivering items drove online purchases.

New figures from the association showed that over $195 billion was spent on the internet using cards in 2016 - up by a quarter in two years.

Entertainment - such as movie and concert tickets, take-away orders and music downloads - accounted for one in four online card purchases in the UK, the report said.

Some 67 per cent of concert ticket spending and 61 per cent of cinema, theatre and dance spending was made online, the association's figures showed.

However, attempts of online retailers to make a mark in the grocery sector had so far failed in comparison to the use of cards in shops and supermarkets, the BBC reported.

Some 41 per cent of in-store card purchases were on food and drink, compared with only 7 per cent via the internet.

Pawn shops, laundry and pubs, somewhat unsurprisingly, registered the least online shopping activity, the report added.

--IANS

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