New research commissioned by MasterCard has
shown how the extra costs associated with Christmas shopping trips
including unplanned purchases, coffee, meals and transport and
parking fees are forcing consumers to use the internet as an
alternative.
Consumers are spending on average an extra £84
per shopping trip, which equates to £3.2billion nationwide.
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MasterCard Prepaid’s Christmas Spending survey
also revealed that over half of adults (55%) who go Christmas
present-buying splurge on unintended impulse purchases for others,
while 45% of Christmas shoppers fall prey to temptation and buy
additional items for themselves.
The findings come after TNS Finance’s research
carried out earlier this year showed that consumers across Europe
are turning to prepaid for buying online.
92% of respondents who said they would buy a
prepaid card for use on the internet cited the fact that it was not
linked to a bank account as a key benefit with 67% saying they
considered it safer than other payment means.
Matt Lanford, head of prepaid for MasterCard
Europe said: “Prepaid cards work like a pay-as-you go mobile phone
and therefore can help people budget better too. It prevents you
from accidentally spending more than you have loaded onto it and
the act of having to actively re-load the card can provide valuable
thinking time before any expensive impulse buys are made.
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By GlobalData“But we know that consumers remaining
sceptical about online payment security understand and like the
benefits of using prepaid for its ability to provide a secure and
convenient way of buying goods and services over the
internet”.
