57% of Irish shoppers make online purchases

More than half of Irish people have shopped online in the past year — just below the European average.

A survey from Eurostat found 57% of Irish internet users bought something online in the last 12 months — 26% bought clothes and shoes online in the last year — compared to 11% in 2008.

About 43% of internet users bought travel and holiday accommodation in 2012 — up from 32% in 2008 — while the percentage of people purchasing books, magazines, and e-learning materials online rose by a third between 2008 and 2012. The percentage of people buying food and groceries online has doubled, from 3% to 6%, in the same period.

On average, 60% of EU internet users shop online, with the highest rates found in Britain at 82%. The country with the least online shopping is Romania at 11%.

Germany and Britain are the top online purchasers of clothes and shoes at around 50%, while only 8% of Italians purchased clothes and shoes online in 2012.

About 60% of Swedes bought travel and holiday accommodation online in 2012, while only 4% of Romanians did.

Luxembourg had the highest rates of online purchases of books, magazines, and e-learning materials at 47%, whereas just 4% of Latvians, Romanians, and Bulgarians purchased in the same category.

Britain again came out on top again for online food shopping last year, at 21%, while just 1% of Czechs, Romanians, and Latvians shop for food and groceries online.

The Eurostat study found that internet access in the EU28 is widespread with people using the internet for a wide range of activities, as well as ordering goods and services online.

Among the 28 EU countries in 2012, three quarters of individuals aged 16 to 74 had used the internet in the previous 12 months, with 60% of these internet users reported that they had shopped online.

Among all member states, the highest shares of online shoppers were registered in the Britain (82% of internet users), Denmark and Sweden (both 79%), Germany (77%), Luxembourg (73%) and Finland (72%), and the lowest in Romania (11%), Bulgaria (17%), Estonia, and Italy (both 29%).