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Internet and TV shopping on the rise
But door-to-door salesmen lose out

By Steve Ranger

Published: Friday 30 June 2006

Internet and TV shopping continue to grow - but not fast enough to prop up growth in the UK's home-delivery business.

Sales of goods ordered in-store, by phone, online, via a catalogue or from a door-to-door sales representative and delivered to the customer's home or place of work were valued at £37bn last year - but growth was only 3.2 per cent compared to 5.6 per cent the previous year.

The research, published by Verdict Research, blamed this growth slump on consumer reluctance to make "big ticket" furniture purchases and a slide in sales at traditional mail operators.

Internet sales have boomed, increasing by 28.9 per cent in 2005, with £1.8bn of products ordered online. Over half of all home delivery shoppers say they place orders online.

According to Verdict, Amazon extended its lead in 2005 as the most popular home-delivery retailer and is now used by 16 per cent of home-delivery shoppers. Argos remains the second most popular retailer.

Though it remains a minor channel of the home-delivery market, TV shopping saw sales rise 18.5 per cent to £949m in 2005 while door-to-door sales grew only 1.2 per cent.

The analysts predict wider penetration of home broadband and a recovery in consumer confidence will lead to stronger home-delivery market growth this year.