...and nearly one in five have lost money due to software stuck on their old PC, study finds

London and Bonn, 11 February 2010. The vast majority of Britons online (79 per cent) do not research software products at online review sites or blogs before making a purchase.

The  new nationwide online consumer study from Softwareload.co.uk, Deutsche Telekom’s software download service, also found that one in five (18 per cent) GB consumers have lost money by not moving software when switching to a new PC. Seven per cent believe they have lost more than £100 in this way during 2009.

According to the online study, conducted by YouGov* on behalf of Softwareload, men (27 per cent) are more likely to research a software product on a blog or online review than women (16 per cent) prior to purchase. Directly downloading and installing software from the Internet is narrowly more popular (21 per cent) among the Great British public than buying physical packages (20 per cent), the study found, with younger demographics favouring software downloads more than older generations.

Dirk Lebzien, Vice President of Softwareload, was concerned about software buyers who are not “getting their money’s worth” from the industry.

“One in five UK software buyers admit they are confused about how to transfer software they’ve already paid for onto a new PC, although the true figure could be higher,” he said. “The industry needs to work harder to make these processes simpler, which is why we at Softwareload offer secure storage. So if they need to replace their PC for any reason, customers can easily re-install their software.”

Other key findings from Softwareload’s survey:

•   Men prefer to buy and install software from the Web (26 per cent) compared to women (15 per cent)
•   More than half of men (51 per cent) have used a new computer in last year compared with 42 per cent of women
•   People living in London (25 per cent), the south of England (21 per cent) and Wales (23 per cent) are most likely to download and install software from the Web
•   Welsh people are the most likely to read blogs and online reviews before downloading software (28 per cent) and are second only to London in making direct downloads
•   Scots are most keen to buy software in-store (23 per cent)

Softwareload.co.uk, launched in the UK during autumn 2009, aims to become the place for Web users to purchase software from various application providers.

Softwareload.co.uk contains software applications for work and home life, and customers can store their purchases securely on the site.

For more information please visit www.softwareload.co.uk.

* All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 2,094 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 27-29 January, 2010.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).