Northerners love shopping online

Maybe it ain't so grim up north after all

Northerners are the UK's biggest online spenders. So much so, they'd even be happy to buy a house or a car online rather than just run-of-the-mill books, CDs and other bibs and bobs.

That's according to research by ecommerce outfit SciVisum, which found that three quarters of UK punters shop online, spending on average £89 a month. But while people in most other regions of the UK barely spend more than £50 a month online, up north it's a different matter with average spending nearing £100 a month, the firm found.

While only half of people living in central London admit to shopping online, in the North of England they're all at it with the survey finding that the north has "the most extravagant online spenders and to be the most willing to buy cars and houses online".

Despite this optimism, the sale of cars and houses online has yet to make an impact. For in truth, there are no prizes for guessing that by far the most popular items in the "virtual shopping basket" are books and CDs, followed by holiday, electrical goods, clothes, groceries, and financial services.

Our findings challenge many previous stereotypes," SciVisum chief exec Deri Jones said. "The big spenders are now just as likely to live in the north as in London." ®