Online shopping is both a blessing and a curse. The convenience means you can be scrolling through Facebook one minute and buying new jeans the next, all without ever leaving the couch or missing the rest of that episode. But the curse is the tendency to buy more just because it's so easy. It requires almost no effort – save punching in that credit card number – and in about a week you have all new gear delivered right to your door. A situation that can't get much better. Except for in one way: it could be cheaper.
2014 Paypal Start Tank startup Second Chance Technologies used its price comparison extension BuyHappy, which automatically scouts out better deals for your items around the web, to calculate that 80 percent of online shoppers will dish out on average over 19 percent more for their virtual transactions than they would if they were buying in-store. That statistic is shocking, since 72 percent of the same consumers listed price as a motivational factor for their online purchases.
Many consumers opt to save some dough through coupon services like RetailMeNot, flash sale sites like Boston's own – and potentially soon-to-be-sold – Rue La La, and BuyHappy's browser add-on, which helps shoppers save 20 percent on average by finding the lowest prices possible.
But your best bet might be a bit more predictable. The company found that 85 percent of the time, Amazon has the cheapest prices out there. Target is also dependable for its sweet deals.
Check out this infographic for some more details on online buying habits, and how to save some more before you hit that checkout button:
Image via BuyHappy
