Would your readers rather save money than time?

Since many magazines rely on a) advertising and b) female readers, it is best to keep an eye on what they think.

Women shoppers in the U.S. rely mostly on friends and family (45 percent) as trusted sources to avoid buyer's remorse. The least trusted sources of shopping advice were sales people (39 percent) and advertising (31%). This, according to a national survey carried out by the Consumer Reports National Research Centre on behalf of ShopSmart magazine. (We ran an item last week about the inaugural issue of ShopSmart.)

• Only one out of four said they would rather save time than save money; 87% said getting the best price was most important to them
  
• The average woman spends 7.4 hours per week (385 hours annually) shopping
• One-third said the most stressful part of shopping were a) waiting in checkout lines and b) interracting with sales people
• Price was most important when purchasing clothing/groceries (72 per cent); travel (70%) and housewares or small appliances (69%)
• Price was least important when purchasing lingerie (56%), sporting goods (55%), auto repair (53%), vitamins or supplements (53%) and cosmetics (51%)
  

While price is an important consideration with shopping, price is least important when purchasing lingerie (56 percent), sporting goods (55 percent), auto repair (53 percent), vitamins or supplements (53 percent), and cosmetics (51 percent).

The survey was carried out in May with 1,264 random women in the U.S. Among those women, the median age was 43 years old; 43 percent had at least a four-year college degree and earned a median income of $54,400. Overall 60 percent of the women were married. The proportion of married women scaled sharply with income. Women with income of $100,000 or more were 67 percent more likely to be married than those earning under $60,000. Slightly less than one-half of the women had a child under age 18 living at home.