This report provides an overview of online spending habits in 2010, assessing the value, growth and potential that the market has, in addition to the typical patterns of behaviour and adoption that consumers display when shopping online.

• Over half (55%) of all internet users research products online before making a purchase (either in-store or online), with just under half utilising online reviews, comparison sites and discount voucher/code sites.
• Consumers in the family lifestage and those with young children are amongst the most likely to rely on the convenience of online shopping, while – with the exception of home electronics, portable electronics and online gaming – women are more likely than men to spend in every e-commerce category surveyed by Mintel.
• According to IMRG data, UK online spending in 2010 grew by 17.6% to reach a total of £58.6 billion, with Ofcom reporting that average spend online per person reached £1,031 in 2010.
• Two thirds of consumers are spending online on a basis of once a month, or once every two months, with the most frequent spending groups including those aged 25-44, ABs and families with young children.
• Christmas represents a key occasion for bringing consumer spend online, with even one in five of the least frequent spenders (ie those who say they rarely spend online), shopping online at Christmas.
• Some 27% of consumers have welcomed internet shopping because they hate shops, and 77% of these consumers say they use the web to try to save money as well. These consumers are highly likely to have children, although there is, perhaps surprisingly, no greater tendency amongst men to have been driven online by a hatred of shopping.