With Canada's economy currently in a state of flux, it is no surprise that Canadians are spending less online compared to last year, according to a new study.

Up until the third quarter of 2007, Canadians spent an average of $727 on purchases made over the Internet. This year, that total has dropped 13 per cent to $641, said an Ipsos Reid study. Spending between the second and third quarter of 2008 also dropped 15 per cent.

Comparing only the amount spent in the third quarter of 2008 versus 2007, we see that in the three months of that quarter in 2008, $249 was spent, a 15 per cent drop from 2007. Canadians have not been this frugal in their online spending since 2003.

"While we actually noticed the decline in online spending occur in the second quarter of this year, the year over year figures confirms that online Canadians have significantly reduced their discretionary spending on the Internet," Mark Laver of Ipsos Reid said.

Looking at the number of actual purchases made online, at the third quarter mark on 2007, Canadians had made an average of 8.4 purchases. This year, that number has dropped 20 per cent to 6.7.

"The third quarter is typically when we start to see an increase in consumer spending each year with the approaching holiday season and the fact that consumers typically have more disposable income in the second half of the year," said Laver.

Unfortunately, the state of the economy has many people keeping their money in their wallet and doing more comparison shopping.

"With a recessionary mindset prevalent many Canadians may search around for the best deal for their holiday shopping," said Laver.

If you enjoyed this article, be sure to visit CanadaOne's article knowledge base for more informative articles.