It has finally been proven scientifically. A new study has found that women have an evolutionary gene which makes them born shopaholics.

The finding is based on a study conducted by researchers from the University of California. The study concludes that not only are women better at finding their way around departmental stores, they also manage to remember exactly where the various items are stocked in the shelves.

The reason behind this lies in their evolution, according to researchers. Women, over the centuries, have honed their skills in finding the best fruits and berries to sniffing out the best bargains.

As part of their study, researchers asked 86 men and women to take a trip around a farmers' market. All the participants were given a list of stalls to visit and food items to sample.

Later, the participants were asked how much they liked the various food items they sampled, and asked to map out the locations of the stalls they had visited.

Researchers found that women were much better than their male counterparts when it came to remembering the stalls' exact positions.

A further analysis revealed that women's memories were influenced not by how much they liked the food, but by the number of calories each item contained. The female participants were able to remember food items with a higher amount of calories.

This, say the researchers, is further evidence of an evolutionary origin, as our ancestors would have needed to memorise the location of food items which would give the most energy.