Forty per cent of UK consumers between the ages of 18 – 25 buy products online.

Unsurprisingly nine out of ten participants in the survey said they accessed the Internet at least once a day.

E-commerce is most popular with the under 25’s, predictably it’s social networking sites that bring many youngsters to the Internet regularly. Sixty per cent stated the Internet was used to aid their studies, whilst thirty three per cent stated online banking as their main reason for accessing the web.

As e-commerce usage and safer shopping online facilities increase, the next generation of consumers are very likely to use the Internet to make many of their purchases.

This will bring yet another challenge for the high street, with a large proportion of young adults using their laptops or mobiles to look up products and find the best prices online.

What the results of this study has highlighted is the major significance of social media, and how it will be a major feature in future generations life. The high street and other organisations need to embrace social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, and use them to their advantage.

Organisations need to become more creative when it comes to social media campaigns and advertising. Using imaginative and participatory incentives for consumers. This explains why many e-commerce tools are becoming integrated with the largest networks.

The high street needs to keep up as e-commerce becomes ever popular – but only time will tell how they will compete.