It’s now official – over half of people buying anything, online or in a shop, use the Internet to sanity check prices beforehand. 55% of people look online before committing to purchase, says new research from Bitkom. We believe new rules from the EU could jeopardise this valuable source of information.

The research included only people who were over 14, and found that not only did people research price but also other people’s opinions. Elderly people in particular are likely to be swayed by user reviews.

As you move into other online sources of information like chat rooms and user groups the number decreases – but it’s pretty clear, the online world is a major source of information for people about to buy something.

Once again this is an area of personal freedom that is under threat from Europe’s Vertical Restraints Regulation. This is something we’ve covered before and it will allow brands to discriminate against companies that don’t have offline retail premises.

The whole thing’s a nonsense. A buyer in London won’t be interested in whether or not a supplier has retail premises in Oslo or not, and is likely to be baffled that premises, which might be miles away, are a factor in their ability to compare prices and opinions.

This does appear to be a pernicious piece of legislation – and there are only days left to make your opinion felt.