High street shops struggle to compare with independent retailers on price.

1st October 2009: A survey conducted by leading mobile phone comparison website Omio.com has revealed that consumers can save the most money by avoiding the high street, finding savings of up to 40% with online retailers.

Omio’s goal was to secure the best deal on the popular Nokia 5800 XpressMusic handset, on a competitive tariff of around £25 per month.

An 18-month, £25 deal on a Nokia 5800 was available in an O2 retail outlet on a package which would include 200 minutes and 200 texts for £24.48 per month. However, the handset itself would cost £48.93.

A clearance* deal found on Omio.com charged nothing for the handset - an instant saving of just under £50 - as well as offering more minutes (600) and unlimited texts, as well as half price line rental for the full duration of the contract - the equivalent of paying only £9.80 per month.

Looking at price alone, online retailers consistently offer the greatest savings, as well as enticing buyers with a wealth of free gifts including games consoles, laptops as well as the more traditional mobile cashback offers.

However, when looking at the 400,000 deals on their site, Omio found that deals with gifts included tends to raise the average price of line rental to nearer £35 per month, and were likely to be found on contracts of a longer duration. Automatic cashback and cheaper line rental were more freely available on the 18 month contracts.

When compared to equivalent tariffs on the major networks, buyers do indeed get more texts, minutes for their money from online retailers, with only SIM-only deals from the networks proving unbeatable in value.

Customers participating in cashback schemes should be wary however, as online retailers often have strict criteria on exactly how to redeem these discounts. Ofcom’s recent ruling has seen them step in to make the process more clear, and arm the shopper with all the information they need before they sign on the dotted line.

Networks have also seen the huge potential of online savings and appear to be pushing new customers towards the web, offering unique and internet-exclusive deals that give those signing up better value for their buck.

Omio.com is the ideal place to accurately check and compare phones and contract deals like-for-like, and should be the first port of call for new and existing customers looking to buy, or simply learn more about phones and read Omio’s unbiased news and reviews. Omio.com’s survey results conclude that cost-conscious consumers who need to find the best value and cheapest mobile phone deals can greatly benefit from shopping around online.

Ernest Doku, Omio.com, comments: “A lot of people go directly to the mobile networks as high profile advertising often promises amazing deals.  Omio.com has proven that consumers are missing out on hundreds of pounds of savings by overlooking independent online retailers.”

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Notes to Editor *Clearance deals are unavailable on the high street. They are either brand new handsets that a mobile phone company has an excess supply of or handsets that have been sent out as new to customers, but returned under the 14 day money-back guarantee. Once returned, they are fully inspected, tested and reboxed by qualified engineers, then resold.