Shopping online can take six times LONGER than a visit to the high street

By Rebecca Evans
UPDATED: 06:11 EST, 19 November 2011


It is heralded as the way to enjoy quick and stress-free shopping. But buying clothes online could actually take six times longer than a visit to the high street, according to research.

The supposed ease of online shopping has seen it become one of the fastest growing sectors in the market place, accounting for about 15 per cent of all purchases.

But a study, by fashion event Clothes Show Live, found that on average it takes women 22 hours to find one purchase online, compared to 3.6 hours when they wander around the shops.

Slow: A study found it takes women on average 22 hours to find one purchase online

Slow: A study found it takes women on average 22 hours to find one purchase online

Show producer Maryam Hamizadeh said: ‘Shopping online may seem like a quick and easy option, but our research shows that it is nowhere near as enjoyable as a visit to the shops, and in fact takes nearly six times as long to find an item of clothing.’

More than 3,000 people were questioned for the study, which was released alongside Keep Shopping Live – a campaign to encourage support for declining high street stores.

It also found that eight out of ten women preferred a trawl around the shops, whereas the same number of men preferred to do their shopping online.

Furthermore, around half of women said the most enjoyable way for them to spend their free time was to go shopping, whereas men with time on their hands preferred to spend it in the pub.

Miss Hamizadeh added: ‘Shopping is best enjoyed, not from the comfort of a sofa or desk, but when out there in the real world in a shop or store. We’re dedicated to supporting “offline” shopping in order to stop the decline of the high street.

Faster: The study by the Clothes Show found it's far quicker to do your shopping on the High Street

Faster: The study by the Clothes Show found it's far quicker to do your shopping on the High Street

‘Let’s support local businesses by keeping shopping live.’

The survey found that, on average, women spend 22 hours shopping online each month and 18 hours in real stores. They buy around five items of clothing each month, with only one of these online.

More than 37million Britons shop online each year and recent figures from e-retail body IMRG found that spending on fashion websites rose by 21 per cent in October compared to the previous year.

Meanwhile, internet shopping giant eBay is opening an experimental ‘bricks and mortar’ store in London for five days.

However, it will not have any tills and only a limited selection of products, none of which shoppers can take away with them.

Instead, 200 of the bestselling items will  be on display for customers to inspect  and buy online.

'FREE' TRIALS END UP COSTING US £250M

Customers who take the bait on ‘free trial’ offers end up paying £250million a year in hidden fees, a study has found.

When signing up to services such as free DVD rentals or anti-virus software, the small print often ties in customers to recurring payments as soon as the trial period ends. Many forget that they have to cancel the service before charges kick in.

The research found that more than a third who sign up for free trials end up paying unexpected charges, costing them £250million a year.

Only 44 per cent were happy with their trial, according to the online survey.

Michael Woodburn, chief marketing officer for credit card firm Capital One, which commissioned the study, said: ‘Genuine free trials are a great way of assessing the suitability of a product or service. However, our research shows that a significant portion result in unwanted costs.








 

Comments (7)

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If you have a son like mine who at the ripe old age of 15 has size 12 feet and is 6'2'' online shopping is perfect for clothing. The high street just simply does not cater for anybody who is not mr average. Plus you get huge discounts online. I love strolling through Bath and Winchester etc to buy the odd scented candle or birthday present but for the routine stuff the internet wins every time ! Sad but true.

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Fatally flawed research - it only relates to time taken to buy clothes, which obviously can't be tried on and have a high chance of being sent back. I'm sure if they compared it for everything else then the results would be very different.

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Food shopping too. I live one mile from a Tesco. It takes me 35 minutes to go and do a weeks shopping. Online it takes as long plus I wait in and can't choose stuff in person. This is a gimmick and only suitable if you live in the sticks or are infirm.

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6 times longer but always significantly cheaper and accompanied with a little research, a better informed purchase, plus its always guaranteed to be in stock and you don't have to crawl through traffic to receive terrible product knowledge (and sometimes outright lies) by ill-informed clueless shop floor staff who all appeared to have started their job the rprevious week. But apart from that shopping in the high st/superstore is a wonderful experience.

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the beauty of online shopping is you don't have to jostle with crowds of people, you don't have to park, you don't have to pay for petrol, you don't have to pay for parking, if you do it right you sometimes don't even pay extra for delivery. The only downside is dealing with problems, even getting through to the retailer on the phone. Saying that I've been doing it for well over 10 years with few problems.

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When one makes comparisons then one should always compare like with like. The error that has been made in this survey is that no account has been made of the time the hopper has taken to travel from their home to the shop & the consequential time taken to locate a car park, park their car & walk to the shop or the equivalent time spent on public transport. Even in urban areas these transportation costs will far exceed the four hours quoted as having been saved. In addition the shopper will no doubt have stopped to have a cup of coffee etc. This survey sounds like a plug for EBay. If it is more efficient to go shopping in the high street why on earth have we all purchased computers and been exalted to buy on line? Is the truth more that EBay wants to remove costs by getting rid of all its small sellers & replace them with large retailers most of whom are located in China & the Far East? Sounds like the Aesop fable of the fox that lost its tail. Ebid and others must be "Over the Moon".

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Worth the price - you save on a "petrol" + "public transport" cost - Not rocket science - So its a win, win, win.

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