Annual shopping habits of British consumers revealed

Monday, March 25, 2013 - 10:57 by Simon Crisp

A new study has found that the average UK consumer will spend a full 18.5 days of the average year indulging in a bit of retail therapy, according to the Daily Mail.

A thousand people were questioned as part of the study which also assessed our favoured shopping venues and why we dedicate so much of our time to this activity.

When this is broken down, an average week contains two and a half hours of grocery shopping and two of clothes shopping.

Interestingly enough, it seems that those who use safe shopping online to buy their food each week will actually save tons of time, since on average, it takes just 14 minutes to achieve, rather than several hours.

This is because most people will set up a list of their most commonly required items which can simply be re-ordered, once their household supplies have been depleted. There is also no need to spend time getting to and from a supermarket before wandering from shelf to shelf when using safe shopping online.

Of course, although most people will spend a lot of time at the shops, there are many who actually dislike heading to a supermarket or high street outlet.

In spite of this, millions of us consume a lot of time at retail outlets, when we could actually be spending it doing something more enjoyable or productive.

It is clear to see that this study makes online shopping look particularly attractive to beleaguered British consumers, who may be dissatisfied with their current retail experience.

The web not only offers a wider selection of products which can be purchased with convenience whenever you like, but also delivers lower prices than the high street in most instances, which is worth bearing in mind if you are on a budget.