The online retail boom, which has seriously threatened high street establishments in most parts of the UK, has found few takers in Wales. According to the report, 'Internet shopping in Wales' a huge chunk of population does not shop online because of certain security reasons! About 41% of people who have access to the internet do surf the net but don’t get caught in the lure of gaining a few extra ‘pounds’.

Biggest phobia these people have is that while shopping online, they are unaware of their rights and only less than half net users (44%) actually feel that they are very much in familiar territory while shopping online. Rather strangely people living in the predominantly rural areas of mid and west Wales have shopped online this year and it is the city folks who have kept away from it! This phenomenon can be explained by only one rationale that, for rural people it is difficult to commute to a proper market place while for the urban population high-street is just round the corner.

The root cause for this happening lies in the fact that 53% of the adult population in Wales still do not ‘log in’ and have eluded the grasp of the World Wide Web. The basic apprehension about ‘etailing’ for those who do ‘log in’ is the fear of getting duped by any online vendor who is operating out of the legal boundaries of the UK. But after the recent ruling by the Court of Appeal, which states that the supplier will be held responsible in case the proprietor can’t be brought to book, might calm some tense nerves. With the boom in the Broadband proliferation, the number of people getting hooked to the net will definitely increase. Till then the Welsh high streets will remain crowded.