A new report from Mintel has found that Amazon’s popularity shows no signs of slowing, with 21% of customers increasing their spend with the online retailer in the last year.
Almost nine in ten British consumers shop online at Amazon, with Mintel stating that 86% are Amazon users/shoppers.
Overall, 70% of Amazon customers shop with the retailer at least once a month, while 17% use it on a weekly basis.
However, kithenwares does not feature among Amazon’s top categories, which are books, DVDs and video games (39%), although electricals are among the next most popular purchases (30%).
According to the report, some 51% of Amazon users assume it has the cheapest prices, with 59% being loyal to the retailer. Also, 70% of Amazon shoppers said it is the first retailer they go to when shopping online.
“Amazon is a phenomenon of 21st century retail,” said Nick Carroll, associate director of retailer at Mintel. “Amazon started selling books, but now holds a significant share in almost all retail categories, helped by the incubation of thousands of independent sellers through its Marketplace scheme.
“The retail giant has expanded far past the bounds of normal retail operations into media streaming, consumer electronics and cloud computing.”
The research also seems to back up the theory that physical retailers are being used as showrooms, with 70% of Amazon shoppers saying they research products elsewhere but then buy from the site.
Despite this, 45% of Amazon users think it has had a negative impact on the high street, although 40% believe it supports independent retailers.
Nick continued: “[Amazon] has certainly led on, and to a degree enforced, many trends that have come to define 21st century retail, however it is not all conquering at present. Indeed, even if the retailer accounted for roughly 50% of the online market held by online-only retailers, it would only account for around 9% of all UK retail sales.”
