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Decade of shopping online saves savvy shoppers £27,000

PC-savvy Brits have saved £27,024 since the millennium – by shopping online.

A new study shows that since the Internet has become the preferred way to shop, people are spending £2,702.42 LESS a year on purchases such as holidays, insurance, clothes and electricals.

And the biggest saving is being made on the weekly food shop – which has gone down from £71.22 spent in-store, to a reasonable £48.98 online.

Over a period of 10 years this means folk are saving a whopping £11,564.80 by using the Internet to buy food alone.

The poll of 3,000 shoppers was conducted by elephant.co.uk to mark its 10th anniversary. When it launched in August 2000 elephant.co.uk was the first wholly online car insurer. The research now shows 62 per cent of Brits use the Internet for the majority of their purchases.

Nine out of 10 people polled are convinced they save money by shopping in this manner, and 53 per cent say they simply don’t have any time to shop on the high street anymore.

Indeed, 78 per cent of folk believe the Internet is the most convenient way to shop, and 48 per cent reckon they would definitely spend more money each week if they didn’t have access to a computer.

Brian Martin, managing director of elephant.co.uk said: “With such hectic schedules it’s no wonder Brits are finding the accessibility of the Internet a god-send.

“And the figures really are incredible; I doubt many Brits would even have an extra £2,702.42 a year or £216.68 a month to spend on the high street.

“In these difficult economic times the Internet is making it easier for people to shop around for affordable items in half the time.”

Fashion conscious men and women are also making a great saving on clothes and shoes – reducing their spends by £2,943.60 over the past decade.

And the state of Britain’s homes have improved since online stores offer people the chance to buy DIY tools and equipment, home furnishings and furniture.

Car, home, travel and pet insurance can also be cheaper online – and the average Brit reckons they save £129.55 a year, £1,295.50 over 10 years, by shopping around for the best deals.

The research shows the average person will buy a new car every five years, spending just £4,541.17 online but £5,988.6 from dealerships – saving a reasonable £2,895 over 10 years.

And holidays have never been cheaper – with comparison websites allowing people to book their package holidays for just £772.50 a year instead of £930.10.

Brian Martin continues: “If the average Brit had conducted all of their shopping on the high street and in supermarkets over the past 10 years they would have spent an astonishing £107,147.44 in total.

“But by using the Internet for the majority of their shopping, people are actually dishing out a more respectable £81,123.24 for items such as music, books, insurance and gadgets.

“That’s quite a saving – and one which should see even more people convert to using the Internet over the next 10 years.”

Other areas where people have been fortunate enough to save money by shopping online include presents for friends and family.

By getting gifts for loved ones online, people are spending just £518.76 a year compared to £651.60 originally – that’s a saving of £13,28.40 over 10 years.

Folk have also been lucky enough to save £870.70 by shopping online for electrical items such as televisions and computer games, and £1,063.20 over 10 years for music.

Accessories for babies and children would have cost people a staggering £4,855.20 over a decade on the high street, but instead set people back £4,135.20.

And a further £496.80 has been saved on books since the start of the millennium.

Incredibly, the average person reckons they spend a whopping 22 hours a week using the Internet, compared to just six hours 10 years ago.

FULL BREAKDOWN OF RESULTS

SPENDS PER YEAR

SPENDS OVER 10 YEARS

Issue date: 03/08/2010