The likelihood that smartwatches will become a viable option for safe shopping online seems to be getting ever smaller, with a new study from Qualtrics identifying a distinct lack of enthusiasm for this use of the technology amongst British Consumers.

Internet Retailing reports that 66 per cent of people questioned in the report said they had no interest in either buying items by browsing for them from their smartwatch or in making any kind of financial transaction via the device mounted on their wrist.

Furthermore, most people who own smartwatches have not even made one attempt to see what this process would be like, with 81 per cent of respondents saying they had so far steered clear of shopping on e-commerce sites in such a way.

The report also looked into the different types of payment method which are popular in the UK at the moment, with cash still managing to be used regularly by 97 per cent of people nationally.

Consumers are so enamoured by online shopping that debit card transactions dominate in terms of the sheer volumes of money being transferred via this method. The fact that cash is still so widely used might come as a surprise, but it speaks to the diverse array of options that Brits are happy to use to make payments.

Report spokesperson Luke Williams said that even with innovations in payment options, such as built-in connectivity allowing people to pay using their smartphones and smartwatches without a card being present, there is a lack of willingness to completely abandon traditional methods.

Because of this state of affairs, Williams believes that retailers, banks and other institutions need to remain flexible and never attempt to force customers to adopt newer technologies, since this is unlikely to work out well.