Food and grocery analyst IGD has reported that UK sales in online grocery retailing are set to reach £11.2bn (€12.8bn) in 2016, from an estimated value of £5.9bn (€6.7bn) in 2011.
After surveying 170 food and grocery manufacturers in September, IGD expects internet sales, which currently take 3.8 per cent of total grocery sales, to claim six per cent in the next five years in the UK, which is widely considered one of the most developed online shopping markets.
Chief executive Joanne Denney-Finch told an audience at the British Museum in London: 'It is the fastest-growing grocery channel and one which will be used more widely in the future as shoppers become increasingly multi-channel. Our research shows us that even those shoppers that don’t currently buy their groceries online intend to do so in the future.'
IGD's ShopperTrack research - carried out in August this year - shows that more than four in ten adults (44 per cent) plan to buy groceries online within the next decade, compared to just 17 per cent who currently do so.
More than one-third of respondents (36 per cent) suggested they would use online shopping as well as going to outlets such as supermarkets and local stores.
