The growing popularity of ordering groceries via safe shopping online has been charted in a new study from Awin, with analysts indicating that 18 per cent of Brits now use the web to fulfil all of their weekly food-buying responsibilities.

A fifth of respondents said that they had yet to harness e-commerce sites operated by supermarkets like Tesco and Sainsbury’s to place an order, suggesting that there is still opportunity for significant growth to be secured.

Those most likely to order all of their groceries online fell into the over-55 age bracket, with 44 per cent of people in this category taking advantage of the convenience that this type of service brings to the table.

Meanwhile, the lowest uptake was found amounts consumers aged between 35 and 54, suggesting that there is a generational differentiation in usage.

Those who participated in the survey were questioned about what made online grocery shopping attractive to them, with a quarter saying that the sheer convenience it offered gave it the edge over visiting bricks-and-mortar stores. 18 per cent argued that the biggest advantage was the lower levels of physical strain involved, while 14 per cent pointed out that it let them keep a closer eye on their household budget.

While mobile devices have risen to prominence in the e-commerce sphere recently, grocery shopping is still dominated by laptop users, with almost two-thirds of respondents saying that a portable PC was their platform of choice.

The report also found that the majority of people are not currently in favour of the idea of allowing grocery delivery drivers to leave their goods at their homes when they were not in to take delivery themselves. This shows that retailers will continue to need to manage their schedules to account for customer availability.