Britain has finally emerged from recession, with the economy growing in the last three months of 2009, for the first time in nearly two years.

But new research by online payment service PayPal's found it has changed our shopping habits permanently, and one in five consumers say they'll continue to spend carefully.

The report, 'Online Retail: the new consumer demands' claims 58 per cent of shoppers became more conscious of price, while more than a quarter stopped buying luxuries.

But that doesn't mean consumers have always been looking for the cheapest deal, with 17 per cent starting to choose quality over quantity during the recession.