Online grocery shopping overtakes sales of electronic goods

Online grocery shopping has overtaken internet sales of electronic items for the first time, new figures show.

More consumers than ever are now doing their supermarket shopping online, outstripping gadget and other electronic sales, according to the MyVoucherCodes website.

Customers appeared to be looking for bargains on essential items such as bread and milk, turning to online supermarket sites for exclusive offers and discounts on home delivery, sales statistics suggested.

The "top four" online shopping sectors are currently grocery (31 per cent), electronic items such as computers, televisions and gadgets (25 per cent), clothing and fashion items (21 per cent) and holidays (15 per cent).

A study of 4,238 consumers by the website found 44.2 per cent shopped at Tesco, 23.2 per cent at Asda and 11.7 per cent at Sainsbury's.

The average online shopping basket cost £53 a week, the poll found.

Customers in the north west used online supermarkets the most, followed by those in the south east, London, the south west and the north east.

MyVoucherCodes managing director Mark Pearson said: "We were amazed at the fact that supermarket sales are now beating PCs and TVs when it comes to online shopping, and this is surely down to the fact that people are looking to find the best bargains to get them through everyday life in these tough economic times.

"As you would expect the supermarkets are masters when it comes to marketing and we are seeing an increase in discount and voucher codes relating to free deliveries of groceries to encourage more people to use their online services."