Two thirds of British online by 2006

Internet access has risen to 57% of all adults over the last three months, equivalent to an increase of around three million people. The surge has taken the number of people online in Britain to 27.8 million.

The figures are set to continue to rise, although Mintel forecasts that penetration levels are likely to reach a maximum of 75% of all adults. In the short-term, six out of ten will be online in six months time, reaching 67% over the next two years.

Almost half use the internet at home, while three in ten use it at work or their place of study, with as many as 10% using places such as internet cafes, libraries and when mobile.

Broadband is widely seen as a prime catalyst for the rise of internet usage, with almost 20% of all adults using broadband, half the figure for dial-up access. While a number are still opting for narrowband, dial-up access, this is expected to decline as broadband usage rises.

Age is also becoming a factor, with users aged between 45 to 54 rising 30% to reach 65% over the last three years. Collectively, the 45 to 64 age group is becoming steadily important, with the number of 'silver surfers' now equivalent to those in the younger 15 to 34 age range.

In terms of e-commerce, pricing is still the single most important issue, with reputation and brand much further down the list of priorities. Security came second at 55%, although not far behind value for money at 57%.

Retail analyst, Neil Mason said: "Ever since the early days of e-commerce, e-tailers have been trying to get away from simply being the cheap option and have been trying to build brand names for themselves in order to encourage customer loyalty. Loyalty based on price is no loyalty at all and customers will simply jump ship at the first sign of a cheaper site. It is rather depressing news for e-tailers to find that all these efforts seem to have had little effect and that the prime concern for online shoppers is still price."

Within purchase, travel is the most popular online transaction, with almost 20% of internet users purchasing travel goods in the first quarter of 2004, compared to books at 16%, videos and DVDs at 15%, music at 12% and clothing and footwear at 11%. Those which can fulfil a transaction digitally, such as sending tickets by email, are likely to find the internet of greatest use.

June 18 2004:

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