More Britons shop at work

Warc, 12 August 2014

LONDON: One third of Britons are shopping online while at work, spending an average of 24 minutes a day on this activity according to new research.

A study by Give As You Live, a price comparison website that donates to charity, also found the practice was on the rise as there had been a 14% increase in the number of transactions between 9am and 5pm, from January to July 2014, compared to the same period in 2013.

"It's often said that there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done, something our figures confirm," said Steff Lewis from Give as you Live. "Working nine to five is how most people make a living, but it also means we have less time to do important 'life admin' like shopping. Now we can see how Brits are coping – by shopping on the boss's dollar."

There were some significant differences in terms of the time spent shopping online, with workers in the East Midlands at opposite ends of the scale. Those in Nottingham spent the least time shopping online (14 minutes and 43 seconds), while 30 miles south in Leicester workers spent three times as long at 45 minutes and 44 seconds, the most of any city in the UK.

Employees in Glasgow were close behind Leicester (43 minutes and 11 seconds), while those in London were average (23 minutes and 51 seconds).

As regards the value of transactions, Give As You Live said, on average, Britons were spending £77.49 shopping online. The most popular time turned out to be 11am on a Monday morning.

Other research has shown how many UK consumers are using their commute to and from work to browse and shop online. A survey by brand activation agency Geometry Global found 89% of respondents had done so using their smartphones and tablets and around half expected they would do more in the future.

Marketers may now need to consider how to target consumers at work as well as while they are commuting.

Data sourced from Give As You Live; additional content by Warc staff