One-half of UK Internet users ages 16 and older surveyed by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) said they went online to buy goods or services in 2007.

By 2008, an even greater proportion (55%) of UK adults had bought something on the Web, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS), and 81% of those had made their purchases during the previous three months. For both men and women, rates of recent purchase had risen since 2006.

Timeframe of Last Online Purchase According to UK Adult* Online Buyers, by Gender, 2008 (% of respondents in each group)

BT and Ipsos MORI, in their “21st Century Life Index Report,” found that the percentage of respondents saying they “regularly” shop online had risen from 2% in 1998 to 41% 10 years later. Over one-half (56%) said they had bought something on the Web in the previous three months, and 26% had bought or sold at an auction site such as eBay during that period.

Although the number of buyers and the range of goods bought online were both up, the ONS found little evidence that the average spend per buyer had leapt ahead. Across the board, respondents seemed to be spending the same amounts online in 2008 as in 2006 and 2007.