The Royal Mail have published figures which show that superfast broadband benefits online retailers in the UK, with an additional £225m injected into the online economy each year due to it.
This figure is due to expand even more with predictions to reach £740m by 2017, when as much as 95 per cent of the population are expected to be accessing faster broadband speeds – only 1m of homes and businesses can access such services today.
Edinburgh has been the area for the biggest increase in online spend of any other UK city since superfast broadband became available, splashing out an additional £4.4m overall. The Scottish capital was closely followed by Birmingham in the stats with Glasgow coming third.
On an individual level each broadband user now spends an average of £23 a year more online due to its convenience.
Royal Mail’s managing director of parcels, Nick Landon said: “Our study shows that the investment in superfast broadband networks is having a positive impact on spending online.”
“Superfast broadband is acting as a catalyst, encouraging people to spend more online and the further roll-out of networks across Britain over the coming years can only benefit the online retailing market. To support the online retailing market, we are continuing to explore ways to improve our flexibility and provide more options for people to receive items they have ordered online.”
