A study conducted by the team behind global affiliate platform Awin asked almost 2,400 Britons in full-time employment about their online shopping habits ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, highlighted a number of trends.
One of the most significant findings revealed that two-thirds of Britons online shop whilst they’re meant to be working (62 per cent). 35 per cent of those who online shop while at work said they were most likely to do so when working from home, whereas 32 per cent said they would ‘happily’ online shop in the workplace.
It was found that the average time spent online shopping during working hours was three hours per week. The team at Awin then used this data to figure out the weekly average cost to businesses using the national minimum wage (£8.91), multiplied by three hours per week, then proceeding to multiply this against 62 per cent of the UK adult population. With roughly 31,563,641 UK adults admitting to online shopping for on average three hours per week, that’s a cost of £843,696,123.93 to businesses every week.
Of those who admitted to online shopping during working hours, the same group were also asked if their habits had changed compared to their habits before the COVID-19 pandemic. One in three of these respondents (33 per cent) said they spent ‘much more’ time shopping online now compared to before the pandemic.
When asked why they thought their habits had changed, whether during working hours or not, the following answers came out on top:
- It’s easy to get away with online shopping during work hours without getting caught – 52 per cent
- I struggle to find the time to shop (online or in-store) in my own time – 40 per cent
- Online shopping is safer than going to shops (safer in reference to COVID-19) – 12 per cent
- Online shopping is more convenient than going to the shops – 26 per cent
- No physical queues when online shopping – 4 per cent
As well as asking participants about their shopping habits, Britons were also asked what products they had bought in the last six months. The most common categories were found to be:
- Clothing – 68 per cent
- Tech/gadgets – 19 per cent
- Toys – 5 per cent
- Homeware – 5 per cent
- Beauty – 3 per cent
Commenting on the findings, Lee Metters, Retail Client Partner at Awin, commented: “Am I surprised that so many Britons are shopping during work hours? No, I’m not. I think it comes hand in hand with the increased flexibility that businesses are empowering upon their employees. It’s also evident that the pandemic has accelerated an adoption of online shopping for the masses, with convenience, safety and variety all having their part to play in consumer habits changing over the last two years. As we race towards Black Friday and Cyber Monday, brands will have a real opportunity to capitalise on online shopping demand. Supply issues aside, everything is set for another hugely successful golden quarter.”
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