Public experiences of home working and internet shopping

This release includes statistics on experiences of home shopping and working from home based on the 2008 National Centre for Social Research Omnibus Survey and the National Travel Survey (NTS). Figures show that:

Shopping

  • In 2008, 73 per cent of individuals said that their household had ordered goods by internet, phone or post for delivery, with 37 per cent receiving deliveries at least monthly. In the 2002 NTS, the respective figures were 64 per cent and 27 per cent.
  • The proportion of deliveries ordered via the internet has increased, from 26 per cent in the 2002 NTS to 73 per cent in the 2008 Omnibus.
  • Although there has been an increase in the proportion ordering food or drink for home delivery over the period, home deliveries only account for a small proportion of food shopping. In 2008, 4 per cent of those responsible for the main household food shop said they usually had the main food shop delivered.
  • For almost a fifth (17 per cent) of home deliveries someone in the household visited an outlet prior to purchasing the item (15 per cent), made the trip to collect an item left at the post office/depot/outlet (3 per cent) or made a trip to return the item (<1 per cent).

Working from home

  • In 2008, 3 per cent of workers always worked from home, 7 per cent did so at least once a week and 5 per cent at least once a month. 78 per cent said that they were not able to work from home. The extent of home working has remained relatively stable since 2002.
  • Both work-related and home-related reasons were each mentioned by around six in ten of those working at home for whole days, with travel related reasons given by around a third.
  • Almost two-thirds of occasional home workers said that they could do all or more of their work from home, while 13 per cent of those who had not worked from home at all said they could do at least some of their work at home.
  • The link between home working and travel behaviour is complex. Examining commuting and business trips together shows that those who work from home at least monthly but less than weekly travel the most miles for work purposes at around 7,800 miles per year.

Notes

The National Centre for Social Research Omnibus Survey included questions in July to August 2008 to examine the extent and nature of ordering goods for home delivery and working from home. The Omnibus Survey covered a representative sample of around 1,500 adults.

The National Travel Survey (NTS) is a household survey designed to provide a databank of personal travel information for Great Britain. The NTS has been running continuously since 1988, following previous ad hoc surveys. The survey is designed to pick up long term trends and is not suitable for monitoring short term trends.

Publication details

Published on 22 January 2009 by Transport Statistics as official statistics.

Email attitudes.stats@dft.gsi.gov.uk for queries concerning this release.

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