Comment - Millions are still excluded from online cost saving benefits

Apparently this is because it wants to protect the environment by eliminating paper application forms. However, this move to being 'green' is the only real newsworthy element to this story because the supermarket chain announced way back in 2005 that it had become the first major UK employer to introduce internet-only job applications. The difference is that at the time it was done because the supermarket believed the vast majority of people preferred using this method than filling in paper forms.

What is interesting about this is that Sainsbury's will be putting a terminal into its stores in order that applications can be made in-store. The implication here is that there are still sufficient people without internet access to warrant such a move - some three long years after the company first took this internet-only stance.

And with supermarkets employing a great mix of people of differing ages and demographics this surely highlights how the 'computer-less' are represented in all parts of the population. It is a misconception to think that it is only older people and the less well off that do not have access to the internet.

What makes this situation particularly disappointing is that this great swathe of people from all parts of society is missing out on one of the major benefits of the internet - the ability to use it to source the lowest-priced products and services.

A recent Verdict Research report forecast that annual sales online would reach £44.9 billion by 2012 (representing 13.8 per cent of total spending in the UK) and that a major driver of its growth as a retail channel is that it is widely perceived as a cheaper way of finding lower prices and bargains.

Sadly, without the capability to buy online many consumers are unable to play a part in the internet revolution and are missing out on purchasing the cheapest flights, the lowest cost hotel rooms, the opportunity to buy last minute discounted tickets for the theatre and other entertainments, and to benefit from having their groceries delivered to their door.

But despite the rapid growth of sales online Verdict still concludes that there will remain a need and a place for the good old physical store - the internet is simply not going to take over the high street as many people predicted during the dotcom boom of the late 1990s.

Likewise, we believe that there will also be a need for organisations like Sainsbury's to continue to recognise that when introducing initiatives like internet-only applications they must also make provision for those people without online access by installing terminals or kiosks in-store. Whatever tools are necessary it is essential that retailers do not exclude anybody from benefiting from the internet.

Mark Chirnside is chief executive officer at Ukash