We’re now buying half our kitchen appliances online

ALMOST half of washing machines, dishwashers and fridge-freezers are bought online, figures reveal.

They are among the items regularly purchased over the internet, where a record proportion of our shopping is now done.

Figures show more than £1 in every £5 of retail spending – purchases other than food – was done via the web in November, turning the screw on the high street.

And the British Retail Consortium predicts the figure will soon reach £1 in £4 spent

Already 40 per cent of all spending on household appliances is done through the internet.

At one time, retail experts rejected the idea that selling clothes and shoes online would be popular on the basis people like to try items on before they buy.

However, the BRC figures show that a third of all shoes – 33.7 per cent – and more than a quarter of all clothes – 28.9 per cent – are bought online.

While people are visiting the high street, it appears stores are increasingly being seen by shoppers as showrooms to view and assess products, that are then purchased over the internet. The BRC figures show that 27.5 per cent of furniture is bought online, along with 22.6 per cent of baby equipment and toys.

The proportion of all non-food purchases that are made online is up from 20.3 per cent to 22.4 per cent in a year with the trend towards web shopping growing.

The BRC said in-store sales of virtually all goods, other than furniture and home accessories, were lower this November than the same month last year.

Black Friday – the day after Thanksgiving – triggered a surge in internet shopping, with sales up by more than 30 per cent on the same day last year. By contrast, the number of shoppers on the high street was down by 9.6 per cent, according to analysts.

The growth in online shopping effectively cancelled out the fall on the high street. As a result, total retail sales were up 0.7 per cent in November compared with 12 months ago.

The head of retail at KPMG, David McCorquodale, said customers shied away from the high street in November in favour of shopping from tablets and smartphones, but added: ‘The focus over the next few weeks is to promote the theatre of the store for Christmas in the hopes that the tills will be ringing all the way into the New Year.’

The shift in shopping culture creates huge problems for the high street in the crucial weeks before Christmas. Research by accountants PwC shows that two in three stores are running sales or window promotions in an effort to win back shoppers.

A spokesman said: ‘The level of promotional activity is continuing to increase as we enter December.’