LONDON, March 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- WOMEN save nearly GBP150 a year by flirting with shop staff until they get a discount, a new survey has revealed.
Eighty five per cent said they have used their feminine charms, like hair tossing, maintaining eye contact, giggling and being overly friendly to save themselves money in the last month.
Research showed that women the savviest at shopping when it comes to securing big discounts as nearly one in three said they refuse to pay full price on big purchases and will instead wait or look for a voucher, a sale or a discount code.
They were most likely to flirt for discounts in bars, electrical shops, gyms and at the travel agents.
More than 56 per cent say they have even managed to get things completely free of charge because they have flirted.
Men in comparison save more money by offering to pay for things in cash and haggling to get a better deal.
The survey in to the shopping habits of 3,000 Brits was commissioned by promocodes.co.uk (http://www.promocodes.co.uk/)
Alex Attinger from promocodes.co.uk said: "Everyone likes a bargain and this research shows that women are willing to do almost anything to get a few pounds off. A bit of flirting won't do anyone any harm and there is a real buzz when you get a good discount on something.
"It's understandable that people try every trick in the book to save themselves money. Especially in the current economic climate. But maybe women should stick to getting promotional codes (http://www.promocodes.co.uk/) online instead of flirting if they are shopping with their other half. Save the banter for shopping with the girls."
The items most people flirted or haggled for a discount on were cars, holidays, TVs, houses and clothes.
Including vouchers, haggling and flirting Brits say they are saving GBP577.32 a year.
They saved GBP18.82 a month by using vouchers and discount codes, (http://www.promocodes.co.uk/) GBP17.91 a month by haggling and GBP11.38 by flirting.
But women are also more likely to get embarrassed if they get flatly turned down when trying to charm a discount out of a sales person.
More than two thirds say that they really begrudge paying full price and get annoyed if they don't managed to get some kind of discount with only 8 per cent saying they don't shop around at all.
One in twenty regularly get discounts from social networking sites where they share them with friends and family.
Alex Attinger said: "So many companies have vouchers and discounts available if you know where to look and most of these are online. You are throwing money away if you aren't regularly checking our website, newspapers for vouchers and trying your luck with a bit of haggling."
TOP TEN ITEMS PEOPLE REFUSE TO BUY WITHOUT A DISCOUNT
1. Car
2. Holiday
3. TV
4. House
5. Clothes
6. Phone
7. Furniture
8. Computer
9. Camera
10. TV subscription
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