New research from Mintel has revealed that almost nine in ten (86 per cent) of Brits are Amazon shoppers.

More of these users have increased their shopping (21 per cent) with the e-commerce giant than decreased it (13 per cent) over the past year. Overall, most (70 per cent) Amazon customers shop with the retailer at least once a month, while just under a fifth (17 per cent) use the site on a weekly basis.

In terms of what’s in the basket, hardcopy media like books, DVDs or video games (39 per cent) remains Amazon’s most popular purchases. This is followed by electricals (30 per cent), fashion and jewellery (30 per cent) and toys (20 per cent).

Mintel also found that 45 per cent of households in the UK have some form of Amazon produced device, with Kindle (23 per cent), Fire TV/TV Stick (16 per cent), Fire Tablet (14 per cent) and Echo (11 per cent) proving the most popular.

As many as half (51 per cent) of Amazon users assume that the e-retailer has the cheapest prices, while six in ten (59 per cent) reckon they are loyal to the company and 70 per cent of Amazon shoppers said it is the first retailer they go to when shopping online.

Nick Carroll, Mintel’s associate director of retail, said: “The retail giant has expanded far past the bounds of normal retail operations into media streaming, consumer electronics and cloud computing – building a platform that customers are both happy to use, and pay for the privilege of doing so via its various subscription services.”

The impact of Amazon’s reach into the physical retail sector was confirmed by the fact that almost half (45 per cent) of Amazon users believe that the e-tailer is responsible for physical stores closing.

Meanwhile, three quarters of Amazon shoppers said they often check the prices of products they see in-store on Amazon. And physical retailers are probably being used as showrooms, as 70 per cent of Amazon shoppers said they research products elsewhere but then buy via the site.

But while many acknowledge the negative impact of Amazon on the High Street, some 40 per cent of Amazon users believe it supports independent retailers and 29 per cent believe that shopping via Amazon Smile is a good way to give to charity.

“Amazon’s growth has no doubt wounded rivals, but it is not the High Street killer that it is often painted out to be,” commented Carroll.

“Even if the retailer accounted for roughly 50 per cent of the online market held by online-only retailers, it would only account for around nine per cent of all UK retail sales, and despite the popularity of online retailing as a whole, the vast majority of all retail sales (82 per cent) in the UK still come through physical stores.”

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