Business
New research claims a third of New Zealanders shop online and buy anything from pets to airline tickets
If you ask the people around you, everyone seems to have a confession story about when they succumbed to one too many drinks in impulsive online shopping.
One person I asked admitted that he had bought a border collie puppy after hanging out with a little beer-powered TradeMe with her boyfriend.
Someone else bought a tree house ladder to hang out of her window so she could climb in and out of her room without talking to her roommates.
Another spent $ 700 on a large portable blanket known as an Oodie; someone else bought tap shoes with the best intention of learning how to dance with them.
Clearly, these people are not the only ones who have splashed out where they would rather save. According to a survey of 1,500 New Zealanders conducted by the consumer comparison website Finder, more than one in three Kiwi adults (37 percent) admit that they shop under the influence.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Generation Z people are the worst drunk buyers, with more than half (55 percent) making a purchase under the influence, while Millennials (52 percent) are a short second.
The most popular items that Kiwis splash money on are food delivery, alcohol and clothing. But some admitted that they also bought plane tickets and pets.
It largely reflects what is seen overseas. U.S. Finder data tells us food tops the drunken shopping lists, followed by clothing, cigarettes and gambling.
Just over one-fifth (21 percent) of Americans surveyed admit to shopping under the influence, spending a combined $ 21.6 billion in 2020/2021. The average spend on purchases gradually increased from 2017 before reaching $ 768 on a Covid lock-on fuel in 2020, and then falling to $ 423 in 2021.
Millennials in the U.S. are likely to buy drunk (36.5 percent), followed by Generation Z at 29.7 percent.
Late night shopping meets tragicomedy
In 2019, the Sydney Morning Herald reports online fashion retailer The Iconic says customers between the ages of 18 and 24 are more likely than any other demographic to shop late at night. At midnight on a Friday and Saturday night, the percentage of daily sales by young people in that age group is at least 30 percent higher than The Iconic’s average customer.
Calvin Klein receives its highest product views between 22:00 and 06:00, the Sydney Morning Herald said, while eBay gets about 15 per cent of its Australian buyers looking for make-up between 12pm and 9am – not an insignificant chunk of traffic for the early morning hours.
For New Zealander Krissy Ralph, late last night online clothing shopping turned out to be her weekly glass of wine or three like a tragicomedy of Shakespearean proportions.
A few years ago, the 38-year-old from the Bay Area closed her weekend-of-the-week routine like clockwork.
Every Friday she went to a friend’s house for a few hours. A bunch of her girls would sip on wine, catch up, and watch the latest drama-inspired episode of The old guy unfolds on television.
While the group would drink and enjoy themselves, Ralph says the mood was always tame and that she still had her mind on her when she left.
“I would come home and still feel pretty spicy and good about myself.”
“Some people may order groceries, others may get diamond rings,”
– Ananish Chaudhuri, Professor of Experimental Economics
Too hyped to go to sleep, Ralph would dizzyly make a line for the computer.
With her inhibitions down and her web browser wide open, she would search for bargains on a range of mid-sized fashion websites, usually throwing a dress or shorts into her online shopping cart before checking out.
After her late-night shopping trips, she eagerly awaited the arrival of her new threads in the mail, but this rush of anticipation often came to a halt.
The clothes never fit.
“I would buy two or three items a week, and every time I bought the clothes, it was a size too small. I bought at least eight dresses on different occasions that were completely too small, ”says Ralph.
Ralph laughs, albeit sadly, at the old habit now.
“The thick version of me was definitely more optimistic than the realistic self.”
These stories of drunken shopping come as no surprise to Ananish Chaudhuri, professor of experimental economics at the University of Auckland.
Chaudhuri says it is known that consumers are irrational. Regardless of how much they earn or what they buy, many people suffer to some extent from a lack of impulse control.
“Some people might order groceries, others might get diamond rings,” he says. Add alcohol to the mixture and the result is not surprising.
Finder’s editor in New Zealand, Angus Kidman, says a night of shopping under the influence could lead to “buyers’ remorse”.
Just as it is best to avoid the supermarket when you are hungry, it is best to avoid online shopping altogether unless you know exactly what you want and you have done your research, he says.
“You could potentially save yourself money in the process.”