A study from HSO has shown that consumers in the UK would much rather see Amazon stick to offering safe shopping online rather than trying its luck in the bricks-and-mortar market, with just 29 per cent of people voicing an interest in this potential real-world rollout.

Conversely, almost three-quarters of respondents said that they wanted the experience of shopping on the high street to embrace more digital technologies, including in-store display set-ups which could be used to access stocking information and identify the location of products.

59 per cent said that their primary motivation for shopping on the web as opposed to in a store is that they have a far wider selection of product options rather than being limited by the physical size of the retail location in question.

61 per cent said that they would like to see high street outlets make greater efforts to ensure that when products did leave the shelves they were replaced in as short a period as possible, rather than leaving gaps where the most popular items should be.

Report spokesperson Hector Hickmott said that consumers had come to expect big things from real-world retailers as a result of the excellent experiences that are available online. This means that outlets cannot afford to cut corners or ignore opportunities.

Of course, stock can run out on the web, and consumers are far more sensitive to this issue than many retailers might imagine, with loyalty to a site likely to take a serious hit if a customer cannot place an order because an item is sold out.

Ultimately there is a tricky balancing act for retailers to conduct whether online or in a store, but it seems that sticking to the web is best for the pure-play brands