Consumers from the UK could collectively save £4.6 billion each year safe shopping online if they were more willing to compare prices and seek out the best discounts.

This is according to a study published by Pricesearcher which revealed that an average saving of £95 per person could be achieved with the help of the various tools that are available to weigh up deals on the web.

Of course, the extent of the savings varies depending on the product categories being considered. DIY items are subject to the lowest typical discounts, with potential savings sitting at £32, while car parts benefit from the biggest at £186.

Report spokesperson Sam Dean said that although there are a lot of ways for shoppers to look for bargains, plenty of people simply choose to visit specific retailer sites rather than carrying out price comparison research first.

Part of this may be due to the fact that consumers are not just looking for low prices but also want to shop with the brands they know and trust. People would prefer to spend a little more to shop with confidence online rather than taking a risk to get a bargain with a site they have never used before.

Of course, big name retailers like Amazon are regularly able to offer the most competitive prices or even deliberately undercut their rivals and take a loss on products in order to get consumers to visit and commit to purchases in the first place.

Shoppers can be fairly fickle when it comes to which retailers they use regularly, especially online. Even so, it is interesting to see just how much money could still be saved each year if people took a little more time to weigh up their options.