Survey Of Britain's 'Bridget Joneses' Reveals Shopping War Between The Sexes (press release)

Could the Internet offer a solution?

25 October 2000

A survey of the nation's 'Bridget Jones' published today has revealed that nearly one in three shopping trips made by British couples, to buy products for the home, ends in an all out row.

allders.com in conjunction with MORI, conducted a poll of unmarried British women - aged 20 to 45 - with boyfriends, to find out what women really thought of their boyfriend's attitude to style and comfort in the home, and what impact it had on their relationships.

Alarmingly the survey uncovered that one in four women believes that their boyfriend's home needs a total overhaul, and one in three women think it lacks any kind of style at all. These results were backed up with the finding that nearly four in ten said their boyfriends never even attempt to purchase products to improve the comfort or style of their home.

Overall, nine in ten women would like to buy their boyfriend something to smarten up his home. When asked which household items they would most like to buy (to improve the comfort and style of his home) decorative accessories, soft furnishings and a new bed featured highest on the list of priorities, along with bed linen, pillows, and towels.

42% of women declared that their boyfriends became impatient and irritable when out shopping for home products and 40% said he becomes bored and disinterested.

42% of women in this group were also convinced that their boyfriends would buy more products for their home if they could do so without having to leave the house, over the Internet, with a staggering 67% anticipating that home delivery of goods would help persuade their boyfriends online. Well over half of women also said their boyfriend would be most encouraged to shop online if there were a guarantee of security, privacy of personal banking details, and if there were a bricks and mortar store nearby to deal with returns.

David Batt, managing director of allders.com, said: "The results from the survey mirrored exactly what we thought to be the case. A classic result from the survey is that over half of the boyfriend's homes contained lots of technical equipment but many are lacking basic items such as linen, kitchen utensils, crockery etc."

"The results from this survey also echo our feelings at allders.com that some people prefer the experience of shopping on the high street, while others prefer the comfort and benefits associated with shopping online. We have developed allders.com for this very reason, so we have a variety of channels that can be used to suit our customers."

"We have taken issues such as security, privacy, fulfilment, user experience and bricks and mortar support very seriously, so much so that allders.com offers a 100% security guarantee - no credit, debit or account card details are held on the site."

"We hope that allders.com appeals to young married and unmarried couples who find shopping online a more convenient and flexible way to buy products for the home, and we invite them to try the allders.com experience."

allders.com launched its online shopping service on October 4th with recently engaged celebrity couple Gabby Yorath and Kenny Logan.

SHOPPING WAR BETWEEN THE SEXES topline

For further information, photographs, or to arrange an interview with David Batt, managing director of allders.com, please contact: Rachael Tilling or Alex MacLaverty (allders.com press office) on 020-7612 1830 or 07768-215 096.

Technical details

MORI interviewed 200 unmarried women aged 20 to 45 across Britain, by telephone between 25th September and 22nd October 2000. All respondents were required to have a boyfriend with whom they do not live (and who had to live alone or with friends rather than with his parents).