LONDON, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Online sales in Britain increased significantly in 2018, although the number of online shoppers dropped from 48 percent in 2015 to 45 percent in 2018, according to a study released on Friday by Mintel, a London-based market research firm.
Meanwhile, according to Mintel, the number of those aged over 45 who have "never bought groceries online and have no interest in doing so" has grown from 34 percent in 2015 to 42 percent in 2018.
Although the number of online grocery shoppers has decreased slightly, online groceries remain one of the fastest growing segments of the British grocery market.
In 2018, sales of online groceries in the United Kingdom totaled 12.3 billion British pounds (16.1 billion U.S. dollars), up 9 percent from 2017.
According to Mintel, online shopping will continue to grow in popularity in 2019, with sales expected to reach 13.6 billion British pounds.
"Over the next five years, online grocery is forecast to account for 10 percent of all grocery shopping," Mintel said.
Nick Carroll, associate director of retail research at Mintel, said: "Online grocery is, alongside the food discounters, one of the fastest-growing segments within the wider grocery sector".
"However, growth is slowing and the number of users is plateauing as retailers struggle to encourage new customers to try their services," said Carroll.
"Many consumers remain reluctant to buy fresh products online, concerns around substitutions persist and delivery charges are still off-putting, particularly in a market where value is key," said Carroll, adding that "most importantly, online services are still best suited to the traditional big-basket weekly shop, at a time when consumers are increasingly shopping on a top-up or when-needed basis." (1 British pound = 1.31 U.S. dollars)
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