Consumers in the UK buy groceries online in greater numbers than their equivalents in almost every other country on Earth, with only South Korea outdoing Britain in the latest report from Kantar Worldpanel.

Last year 7.3 per cent of groceries were purchased via e-commerce sites, which signals that the market has grown slightly compared with 2015. Furthermore, the average online spend of almost £65 per transaction means that web-based food shopping generates a lot more money than the average bricks and mortar supermarket visit.

Report spokesperson, Fraser McKevitt, pointed out that under a third of British households rely on safe shopping online for grocery deliveries, which he believes is an indication of how much further the market can expand in the coming years.

Now it seems that e-commerce grocery services are growing in popularity among older consumers, with families more likely to take advantage of them than single youngsters.

McKevitt said that there was still a gap between consumer expectations and the types of services that retailers can actually offer online. But as spending increases, there is more motivation for investments in improving e-commerce sites.

South Korea’s lead in terms of online shopping is largely defined by the proportion of the population who carry out e-commerce transactions regularly. Almost three quarters of people make at least one purchase each month, which puts it in the most advanced stage of development.

The UK is described as playing host to a mature online ecosystem, albeit one which consumers still balance with visits to the high street and to real world supermarkets. This makes the availability of multichannel experiences all the more important.

E-commerce growth was pegged at eight per cent last year in this study, putting the UK on a par with France in terms of sales increases.