Online price comparison site Pricerunner has taken the next step and compared prices offline as well – and it’s not good news for the buyer, who is paying an average of 31.79% higher than the online cost when the go into a shop.

The company did a mystery shopping exercise in several cities in the UK. It appears Manchester is where you’ll find the highest differential, where a basket of 10 items cost £562 more then the online cost of £1785.11. Sheffield was cheapest (but the basket still went north of £2000) with London and Edinburgh unexpectedly coming in the middle.

“Consumers are paying the price for shopping on the high street. 95 per cent of all the prices we found could be beaten online and the average mark-up on the best online price was a massive 31.79 per cent. That’s high street robbery,” says Mark Thomas, UK manager for Pricerunner. “There is obviously a cost associated with having a high street presence and some of that has to be passed on to the consumer. But with such variations in prices not only between cities but also between two ends of the same high street, consumers must not be fooled by in-store price points. The evidence is clear – it is cheaper to make your eventual purchase online and have the product delivered to your home.”

The research is published on the day on which the European Commission is expected to publish the draft of its Vertical Restraints Regulations, a process in which it looks as though major brands may gain the ability to discriminate against outlets without bricks and mortar retail premises.