58% Of UK Silver Surfers Shop Online

Brand Digital
Old Consumer Online Baby boomer

A whopping 58% of people aged 66-88 shop online, which is just one percentage point less than the national average of 59%, a research from next-generation payment firm Kalixa Group suggests. With this in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising to see tech-savvy silver surfers among the most active online shoppers this Christmas season, taking advantage of the opportunity to avoid the biting cold and shop queues.

The research, conducted among more than 2,100 UK adults, also reveals that the silver surfer generation is more likely to be confident in the security of online shopping than other demographics. Among people over retirement age, 34.5% believe that online shopping is safe, compared to the national average of 29%.

People in the 66-88 age bracket are also less likely to feel alienated by online shopping, with just 21.5% of silver surfers saying they find creating new accounts with retailers irritating, which is far below the average rate of 34%. As well as this, only 22% of older online shoppers consider remembering a password an issue compared to 32% of the general population.

The pace at which older Britons are turning to e-commerce and the level of their confidence in online shopping are “breathtaking,” Kalixa CEO Ed Chandler said, noting that it’s important for retailers to understand what this means. By drawing on these insights, retailers would make the right bet if they start targeting silver surfers and suit their offerings to their requirements, he added.