E-commerce experience helps consumers negotiate bargains

Friday, February 24, 2017 - 10:19 by Paul Tissington

A new survey has revealed that British consumers are now far better at haggling thanks to the rise of shopping online, meaning that money-saving negotiations are far more common today than they were in a pre-internet age.

The Mirror reports that the study, commissioned by Topcashback, found that people aged between 22 and 34 are most likely to be able to drive down the price of an item, with 91 per cent of consumers in this group confirming that they have haggled successfully.

Forty per cent of people were able to nab a discount by making use of the web chat services which the majority of major retailers offer online. By talking to customer service representatives via this medium, it is much easier to barter and bag a bargain.

Sixty per cent of shoppers who fall into the Millennial age bracket said that they had even gone so far as to email a retailer directly and request money off a product or service that is available via safe shopping online.

The report went on to note that there is a distinction between the haggling prowess of the younger and older generations, with those over the age of 50 far more likely to negotiate in person at a bricks and mortar outlet than their Millennial counterparts.

This shows how a shift in shopping trends has altered the way people seek to make savings. It is not necessarily the case that the web has made people more willing to hunt for bargains and actively ask for discounts, but rather that it has presented people with new tools to achieve savings in this way.

The rise of price comparison sites are also instrumental in fuelling the rise in online haggling, as it is quick and easy for shoppers to find which retailer offers the best price and use this information to put pressure on rival outlets.