Mothers adopting e-commerce over high street shopping

Wednesday, August 1, 2012 - 10:57 by Simon Crisp

A new study has found that many mums across the UK would rather purchase products for their kids and for themselves via safe shopping online.

Mumsnet and Casabu joined forces in order to look into the shopping habits which define modern mothers and came up with some interesting results.

Four fifths of the 1,000 mums who participated in the study, said that they use e-commerce sites to make purchases at least once a month.

The majority of respondents said that they take time to weigh up the different prices and offers that are available from competing sites, before they make a purchase, which shows that they value affordability and are not necessarily loyal to a single retail brand.

Ninety per cent of those questioned said that they took advantage of safe shopping online, because they were of the opinion that better bargains are available through e-commerce sites.

The survey also looked at the ways in which mothers perceive value, establishing that 97 per cent of them would want to pay under £20, when purchasing a pair of jeans or a t-shirt for their child.

The survey may be representative of the current economic climate, as it found that 69 per cent of mums would look to spend under £50 on a child's birthday present, with 46 per cent even dipping below £40.

Of course, it might not be frugality guiding mothers in this instance, but instead a sense that they do not want to spoil a child with lavish and, ultimately, unnecessary gifts.

Twenty-five per cent of respondents to the study said that in the past 30 days, they had spent £100 to £200 via safe shopping online, with the majority of this spend going towards clothing, books and entertainment items for kids.