Online grocery shopping has made lives very easy. With just a few clicks, you can order everything from a fridge to hand sanitisers (if there’s any in stock!). But I didn’t realise how challenging that could be for some sections of people. A couple of days back, while chatting with my 76-year-old neighbour, John, he mentioned how difficult it was for him to place online grocery orders. As a first-time online banking user, his card activity was flagged as suspicious and by the time he managed to get verified, he lost his delivery slot.
There are so many older people like John who have had to rely on using the internet for the very first time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Banks need to make the authentication processes easier, especially for first time digital shoppers. According to 2019 ONS figures on internet users, almost half the UK population of people at 75 and over (47%) have never used the internet. The fact that John uses the internet at all is quite fortunate. The good news is that internet use in the 65-74 age group is increasing – it rose from 52% in 2011 to 83% in 2019, and the current situation is likely to speed that increase.
If the COVID-19 pandemic has made us all realise something – it is the power of digital technology. With the help of technology, employees are working from home, having online meetings with colleagues via Zoom or Teams, keeping themselves entertained watching Netflix, doing shopping online for food and medicines and keeping in touch with loved ones who are isolating through online mutual aid groups.
While many are benefiting or coping with the crisis through the help of digital technology, there is a large section of older people who are at risk of missing out. According to the 2018 UK Consumer Digital Index, 8% of UK population could perform zero out of five given digital tasks, with over 65s making up more than three quarters of those (76%).
Those digital tasks included:
1. create something new from existing online images, music or video or audio,
2. solve a problem you have with a device or digital service using online help,
3. verify sources of information you found online,
4. buy and install an apps on a device and
5. download/save a photo you found online.