The proportion of people buying their groceries via safe shopping online will continue to increase solidly in the course of the coming half decade, according to figures published by IGD.

This means that turnover in the UK’s food sector will exceed £217 billion annually in 2024, fuelled by the popularity of various web-based grocery delivery services from incumbent supermarkets and online-only upstarts alike.

Analysts found that at the moment the average British household makes one monthly purchase of food from an internet outlet, with this rate of use set to rise as habits change.

The amount of time it takes for shoppers to complete an online grocery order was also assessed, with people typically spending 22 minutes on initial planning, followed by around half an hour of actual shopping. Once the items are delivered, it takes under a quarter of an hour to unpack everything and put it in its rightful place.

Report spokesperson Simon Wainwright explained that there are a number of sources for growth in the online grocery market, with the efforts being made at the moment by Amazon to break into this sector proving an important stimulator overall.

He also said that consumers tend to prefer shopping for groceries online rather than having to head to a bricks-and-mortar outlet. This is partly down to the amount of time that is saved, which on average sits at 23 minutes for a main weekly shop.

People still head to supermarkets around three times a month to buy larger amounts of food, yet the arrival of online grocery orders is mitigating the need for this. People who want to save themselves the hassle of having to drive to a store and carry out a lot of the legwork themselves see online shopping as the obvious choice.