Online grocers will be Net's biggest retailers by 2004

GROCERIES WILL be the most commonly-bought item on the Internet by 2004: pounds 2.3bn-worth will be sold in the UK compared to an estimated pounds 165m this year. Research released today suggests a boom for companies selling groceries, clothes and footwear online.

Verdict Research forecasts that by 2004 online shopping through the Internet and digital television will comprise 3 per cent of total retail sales, compared to just 0.3 per cent today. And while book, computer software and music and video sales will increasingly move online, the most valuable sector will be food.

Many people are still wary of shopping online, afraid that their credit card details are unsafe; but such concerns tend to disappear with experience. In general, people begin cyber-buying within 18 months of going online, say Verdict.

Almost 60 per cent of Internet users said they are not online shoppers, or considering it. "Many people are using the Net just for e-mail," says Richard Hyman, head of Verdict. "But they're just finding out what they can do with it."

The next five years will also see a struggle amongst physical retailers as Internet rivals - sometimes set up by the same company - begin taking their business, suggests Mr Hyman. "What is happening with the Internet is unprecedented in the history of business. What's really different is the pace at which it is growing."

The number of adults online grew by 25 per cent in 1999, rising from 15 per cent of the population to 19 per cent.