Slickdeals, the leading social platform for shopping, commissioned a year-over-year survey on impulse spending and found that respondents spend an average of $276 every month, a 51% increase from the average $183 per month reported in April 2020. That adds up to $3,312 annually, or $198,720 over the course of their lifetime.
The survey of 2,000 American online shoppers aimed to examine impulse spending habits as compared to a survey conducted in April 2020. Both polls were commissioned by Slickdeals and conducted by OnePoll.
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One year of pandemic later, Americans are still impulsively buying the main essentials: food/groceries (48%), household items (42%), clothing (40%) and coffee (33%).
“The pandemic created significant challenges for global supply chains that increased consumer demand in a variety of sectors,” said Ryan Tronier, senior personal finance editor for Slickdeals. “Our past research indicated that at the start of the pandemic, consumers reported panic buying household goods such as toilet paper and cleaning supplies and our internal user data indicated that people were spending more on large purchases such as furniture, home improvement and technology. As such, it’s not surprising that this survey showed an increase in the frequency and dollar amount of impulse shopping.”
According to the respondents, 62% said they feel happy after an impulse purchase. The study also found two-thirds of impulse shopping takes place while in bed using smartphones.
While people still prefer to shop online (53% in 2020 and 41% in 2021), there’s been an 11% increase in people venturing back to physical stores this year versus last (22% in 2020 and 33% in 2021).
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In 2020, 75% of Americans said they wouldn’t go through with their purchase if they had to pay for shipping. This year only 67% feel that way.
However, over the past year, 65% of people have had to be more vigilant about the deliveries they receive. Half (51%) have had more packages and deliveries stolen this year than ever before.
Two-thirds of respondents said they would continue shopping online post-pandemic, compared to 71% last year.
Signs of economic stability were visible, too. Nearly half (45%) said they’d be willing to spend their stimulus money on impulse purchases. When asked the same question last year, only 36% felt comfortable using their stimulus in that way.
This especially applied to holiday shopping. Since last year, there’s been a 10% decrease in holiday spending concerns.
Tronier added, “Contrary to conventional wisdom, our research continues to show that impulse spending can be associated with saving money. Our Slickdeals community has millions of real people constantly finding the best deals at the best price, which means that even if you weren’t planning to buy everyday items such as laundry detergent or coffee at a given time, stocking up when there’s a great price can ultimately help your budget.”
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