Online shoppers and regular catalogue users spend almost twice as much per purchase as those who go into a shop, according to new research.

The average spend for multi-channel consumers across clothing, home and electrical categories is £116 per transaction compared with just £64 for store-only customers, according to Deloitte.

The research also found that by value, 38 per cent of all retail transactions across the clothing, electrical and home sectors are now influenced by the internet, with 21 per cent coming from direct online purchases whilst 17 per cent are multi-channel transactions.

In the West Midlands, 23 per cent of all retail transactions are influenced by the internet, compared to 40 per cent in the East Midlands – the highest in the UK.

Electricals is the most multi-channel category, with 62 per cent of transactions influenced by online, in comparison to 37 per cent of homeware purchases and 26 per cent of clothing transactions.

Multi-channel electricals consumers also spend the most. On average, they spend £238 per transaction against £160 for those shopping in store. Multi-channel homeware customers spend an average £143 against £83 in store, whilst it is much closer in clothing with multi-channel customers spending £65 per transaction against £52 in store.

Jane Whitlock, consumer business partner at Deloitte in Birmingham, said: “Multi-channel consumers are particularly well informed about the products they buy and this greater confidence is resulting in a higher value and a higher volume of purchases.

“Consumers have been relatively slow to switch to buying clothes online but as retailers improve their website’s visual merchandising and offer free and easy returns this is changing fast. Clothing consumers in the 25 to 34 age range are the most multi-channel, with 27 per cent influenced by online.

"This age group is served by some of the best online retailers and also tend to live their lives online via Smartphones and social networks.

“The high value of multi-channel electrical purchases encourages the level of research in this sector. These purchases are often more considered and just 26 per cent of electrical transactions take place without prior research.”