The summer months unsurprisingly drive down Internet usage – and confidence follows hot on its heels according to Barclays quarterly Consumer Confidence Index
Usage and confidence in the Internet dropped in August to their lowest points since the report began in December 2000.
Research for the Index is carried out by NOP and this quarter shows usage is down significantly to 39 per cent from a high of 44 per cent in May.
Confidence in the Internet has also dropped to 97.9 points in August
Despite the dip, online banking is the only activity to have significantly increased in use quarter on quarter. In August, surfers using the Internet to bank increased to 39 per cent from 31 per cent in May.
Speaking about the increase in online banking, Simon Newman, B2C e-commerce director, Barclays says: “This quarter’s results reveal an interesting trend with usage going down. The dip suggests that surfers would prefer to spend their leisure time away from their PCs – in the summer sun – but that they still find time to do their online banking."