More people in rural areas need to shop online

A recent report has shown how an increasing number of people in rural areas are becoming reliant on access to broadband because they need to shop online.

For those of us that live in large cities and towns the nearest shop is usually just a hop, skip, and a jump away, and most of us take the convenient proximity of the local shops and supermarkets for granted. However, the situation is not the same for those in rural areas, and many people that live in remote areas have to travel for miles to get to the nearest store or supermarket to buy essentials as well as one off items.

A study has recently been carried out by the online payment service PayPal, and the results show that nearly four and a half million people in Britain, which equates to around forty four percent of Brits, now rely on the Internet to be able to get their shopping. There are many reasons why consumers in rural areas have become increasingly reliant on doing their shopping online, and this includes the limited choice of products that they have access to, the distance of local shops and supermarkets, and improvements to online shopping services.

One in six consumes that were polled said that their local shops did not offer enough choice, and ten percent of those polled said that the nearest shop was too far away. However, whilst a huge number of people living in rural areas would love to benefit from the convenience, ease, and choice that they could enjoy by shopping online many will experience problems because of lack of access to high speed broadband that would enable them to do their shopping via the Internet.

An official from PayPal said: “The internet has brought the high street to the countryside, and as many rural communities struggle without any shops at all, online shopping will play an increasingly bigger role as a lifeline for many communities.”

Source – Telegraph