Electricians lose 125 working hours and nearly £6,000 a year by shopping in-person
Posted by: electime 14th April 2022
Electricians are losing thousands of pounds each year by having to delay jobs to go shopping for work-related goods, new research has revealed.
The study by specialist online retailer, ElectricalDirect, asked electricians how much time they spend doing work-related shopping, including driving to stores, parking, browsing and paying.
On average, electricians spend just over two and a half hours a week on such tasks, which equates to at least 10 hours a month and upwards of 125 hours a year.
Based on a typical hourly rate of £47.50, this means that individuals are potentially losing £123.50 a week by not being able to use this time to work. Over a month, this adds up to £494, or a staggering £5,928 a year.
Many electricians are missing out on even greater sums. One in ten (10 per cent) spend five hours or more shopping for materials, tools or equipment every week, adding up to at least 240 hours a year – the equivalent of 10 whole days.
If workers shopped online at sites like ElectricalDirect and used the time saved on jobs instead, workers could possibly earn an extra £11,400 a year.
Unsurprisingly, this causes a lot of frustration, and over half (51 per cent) of electricians say they resent the fact that they have to spend time shopping when they could be working.
Besides plasterers (55 per cent), electricians are the most likely tradespeople to find offline shopping annoying.
The ten things electricians find most annoying about shopping in stores are:
- Having to spend time shopping when you could be working – 51 per cent
- Having to queue – 31 per cent
- Having to drive to and from the shop – 30 per cent
- Having to find somewhere to park – 29 per cent
- Limited shop opening hours – 24 per cent
- The shop not having exactly what you need – 24 per cent
- The shop not having enough of what you need – 24 per cent
- Prices are often better online – 20 per cent
- Poor customer service – 13 per cent
- There is less choice compared to online – 11 per cent
Other annoyances include the tiredness from shopping (10 per cent), cluttered shop floors (10 per cent) and pushy salespeople (5 per cent).
Dominick Sandford, Managing Director at ElectricalDirect, said: “It’s clear that many UK electricians find it frustrating when they have to sacrifice working hours to go shopping. When you look at the earnings they’re potentially losing out on, this isn’t surprising.
“Shopping online can address many of the major grievances, and at ElectricalDirect we offer top trade brands, at competitive prices, with several delivery options and late order cut-off, providing lightning quick delivery.
“We also offer easy, free returns, so you can shop confidently and quickly, allowing you to spend more time on the job, or doing the things you love.
“If you do have any questions, we have a team of contact centre agents who are available to help throughout the day, offering support when you need it!”
To see how much extra tradespeople could potentially earn if they spent less time in shops and switched to online shopping, visit: https://www.electricaldirect.co.uk/blog/cost-of-shopping
