# One third of UK population has bought goods online, says survey

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2002/12/14/one-third-uk-population-has-bought-goods-online-says-survey/
- Published: 2002-12-14T00:00:00+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

A Barclaycard Merchant Services survey reports that over £130 million is spent online
each week in the UK.
According to the survey, one third of online shopping takes
place between 6pm and 9pm, presumably when people have come home and have a little
time to themselves. These evening shoppers on average spend more than their daytime
equivalents: average sales in the evening are £1.60.

It’s not clear if this habit applies to making donations online, but it is likely.
Charities Aid Foundation reported two years ago that a significant proportion of
online CharityCard donations were made out of office hours.

Travel Web sites attract most sales, with sales of rail and plane tickets together
with holidays taking £13.89 million each week. The nation spends a further £13.44
million online each week on financial services. CDs, food, drink, clothes and books
are the other popular selling items.

## Advertisement

Is this phenomenon enough to persuade charities to provide support service staff
during the evening to help donors with any queries whether by phone or e-mail? Probably
not. But it could just be worth rewriting some of the donation pages to address 
an audience who might have had a long day at work or home.

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