The end of the weekly shop: Mothers make 19 trips to the supermarket a month

The big weekly shop is dead and buried – with the average busy mum now making 19 dashes to the supermarket every month.

Research revealed hectic schedules, unannounced guests and hungry kids mean it is impossible for mums to limit their shopping to one trip a week.

The study found typically mums now carry out three ‘big’ supermarket shops each month, mums make an additional nine dashes to the shops to replenish the food cupboards.

A typical mum also visits a convenience store or corner shop a further seven times a month in order to top up and keep family life ticking along.

It also emerged almost nine in ten mums even admitted there are some weeks where they have to go shopping for food items ever day.

Andrew Kendall, Marketing and Buying Director for milk&more, which commissioned the research, said: ”The survey shows that mum is very much the head of the household and that trying to plan what the family eats over a month requires a big amount of preparation.

”No matter how efficient a mum may be, the study proves life always throws in the unexpected, but the sheer number of trips they are having to make only adds to their hectic schedules.

”Mums don’t only have to make added trips which take a lot of time and energy, but they are also feeling the pinch financially as a result of unexpected or unplanned purchases in-store”.

The study of 2,000 mums revealed nearly half have to make extra trips to the shops because they simply forget to buy certain items.

And 68 per cent said they always run out of their daily essentials, with milk, fruit and bread the items most likely to need replenishing before the next ‘big’ shop.

But it seems the regular trips to the supermarket can prove a temptation, with eight in ten mums saying they often end up buying things they had never planned to purchase – spending an average of £11 extra during each trip.

Researchers also found the average mum visits two different supermarkets to do their main food shop because they are keen on certain items from different supermarkets.

Just a third of mums rely on one single supermarket for all their food needs – with 44 per cent admitting they are often forced to go elsewhere to account for items being out of stock.

And 48 per cent of multi-store shoppers do so because they’re keen to take advantage of a wider range of deals.

A third of organised mums alway prepare a shopping list ahead of a supermarket trip and knows exactly what they’re after.

But the average mum still manages to spend a whopping £28.73 each week in the supermarket as a result of buying things that weren’t originally on her shopping list.

One in six mums even admitted they regularly get distracted by deals, offers or promotions and end up forgetting some essentials they needed.