Figures published this week by IMRG have revealed that 32 per cent of the orders made via safe shopping online with retailers in the UK originated from other countries, showing the extent to which British retail is reliant on international trade in the e-commerce age.

The majority of the orders which were placed overseas came from countries that are within the EU, with the weakening of the pound in the wake of last year’s Brexit vote continuing to drive the buying power of international shoppers.

Report spokesperson, Andrew Starkey, said that UK retailers which offer safe shopping online to a global audience are now being seen as offering the best value for money across a range of products. He also said that while orders from within the EU dominate at the moment, the greatest growth in online activity is coming from outside of this union.

Industry experts are in agreement about the fact that this report shows just how savvy consumers have become, since people around the world are clearly willing to take advantage of fluctuations in currency values so that they can bag the biggest bargains online.

This also means that shoppers in other nations will be keeping an eye on how the Brexit negotiations progress, since they will invariably have an impact on whether or not it makes sense to shop online with UK retailers.

Conversely, this means that as the pound faces the likelihood that its value will not recover in the near future, British buyers will find it harder to get good value for money if they want to purchase products from overseas e-commerce sites.

There is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding Brexit at the moment and more of the implications should become clear as time progresses.