Are you one of the many UK consumers who buy products online? UK online sales for Christmas 2009 were up 4.2 per cent on the same period in 2008, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), and online retail now accounts for around four per cent of all sales in the UK.

Consumers are clearly growing ever more confident of buying online as security and distribution continue to improve, even for clothes – items that can’t be tried on ‘virtually’. Software lends itself perfectly to online retail due to its pure simplicity: go online, shop around, read some reviews, download the software and instantly install.

While most consumers may buy their software in-store, according to market research Softwareload carried out in the UK during January 2010, there is an increasing move towards downloading software from the Web. We found that men prefer to buy and install software from the Web (26 per cent) compared to women (15 per cent). The younger the generation, the more receptive they are to directly downloading software.

Why should I buy software online?

Simplicity lies at the core of software downloading. There is no need to leave your home, travel to a store, queue up, buy the product, bring it home, start up your PC and install. In the end you’re still left with an often large box which you have to store somewhere in your home until you need to install the package on your next computer.

If you own a netbook then you will appreciate the necessity of downloading software, mainly due to the lack of a CD drive!

Another key advantage of downloading software online over purchasing it from a store is price. Physical, “bricks and mortar” outlets have greater overheads – such as staff and rent – which means they have to add a mark-up on the same software that could probably be found and downloaded online for less.

Buying software online ticks all the boxes – time, convenience, price and simplicity. Why wait around when you can choose your package, pay for it and let it install in minutes without leaving your armchair?