Nearly three quarters of shoppers expect to pay a discounted rate for purchases – according to a new poll.
The research, by RoxyPalace.com, found that 74% of consumers believed they were entitled to a discount when buying consumer items, regardless of price.
Of those polled nearly one in five (19%) said they refused to pay full price for anything, choosing instead to scour the internet for discount offers.
Food, clothing, travel and experience days were the most common items which consumers expected to make savings on – with many using discount sites and loyalty schemes to do so.
Interestingly those polled stated that they expected larger discounts online than shopping in store as they were aware that selling via the internet was cheaper for retailers.
Women were revealed to be more discount savvy than men with 65% compared to just 41% of males admitting to searching for a discount offer before making a purchase.
Those polled also admitted to be more willing to pay full price for luxury, high-end items.
Nearly all (95%) of those surveyed said they expected the number of discounts on offer to grow substantially in the next two years.
A spokesman for RoxyPalace.com said the ‘discount nation’ trend was only going to grow in the future.
He said: “Shoppers have seen their finances squeezed over the last few years and retailers have been forced to offer discounts in a bid to tempt spending. However, as discounts have increasingly become commonplace – both online and on the high street – it seems consumers now feel they are unwilling to pay full price – and who can blame them?
“Once you start cutting prices to attract shoppers it can quickly lead to prices plummeting which is great for consumers and terrible for retailers. However, the view of many shoppers seems to be that if a retailer can afford to offer 50% off and still make a profit then why should they pay more just to boost their profits?
“It’s so easy to save money nowadays and can usually be done through a simple Google search so it’s no surprise shoppers are looking for and then using discounts time and time again.”
He concluded: “With it recently announced that the UK was again officially back in recession it’s anticipated that discount offerings will grow in size and range over the coming years.”
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