Drinking and Online Shopping! Oh My!

Drinking and Online Shopping! Oh My!

Drinking and Online shopping: Yes, it’s really a thing So here is the real scoop. Last night I was bored and spent over $200 on things I really didn’t need. Why you ask? I was drunk shopping. After a couple of glasses of Chardonnay, I found myself bored as my boyfriend was upstairs taking Spanish classes online. I blame my spontaneous shopping spree on him. Anyway, back to my story. I went on a popular home shopping network, where I became intwined to an organism shopping experience. I was tempted with 5 easy pays on everything. What girl can turn that down. Especially after a few cocktails the enticement was too much to handle. In fact, 79% of people admitted to making at least one online purchase while having a few drinks. It turns out, some drinks result in a higher price tag than others. These are the drinks that will give you the biggest financial hangover while shopping online! The sales, the cocktails, oh my! People at home, are logging onto the shopping networks as they sip from their glass of wine. Overall, it’s safe to say this is a trend that’s popping up in both the offline and online worlds! It’s a thing that’s here to stay and there’s a lot you need to know. The amount people spent tended to vary based on their preferred type of alcohol: Gin drinkers tended to splurge the most, spending an average of more than $82. Even whiskey drinkers, the most frugal group when classified by type of alcohol, wound up spending almost $40. (Beer drinkers were the only other group to spend less than $40, and people drinking red or white wine spent about $42 and $46, respectively.) Perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that in an era with one-click shopping and credit card data stored right on our phones, drinking and online shopping is pervasive: According to a March survey from personal finance website Finder.com, nearly half of 2,000 Americans surveyed said they’d made a purchase while under the influence. It’s also expensive: Finder.com said the average American buys $447.57 worth of stuff while drunk — an amount more than double what people said they spent on drunk purchases in 2017’s survey. “In general, alcohol is a disinhibitor and usually people are feeling kind of expansive and good. Alcohol is a depressant, but in its initial phases it decreases inhibitions,” said Susan Krauss Whitbourne, a professor emerita of psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. People disengage from their willpower and lower their inhibitions, which can have financial implications. “They’re suspending the reality of what’s actually in their bank account,” she told NBC News. People tend to buy fun or luxury items, and are willing to pay more for them. A few key findings: 79% of alcohol consumers have made at least one drunk purchase $444: Average annual spend per drunk shopper Clothing and shoes are the most common drunk purchase Amazon is the drunk shopping platform of choice. Who drunk shops? First, a quick note on methodology: The information presented here is based on a survey of 2,174 alcohol-consuming readers of The Hustle between March 11-18, 2019. Our average respondent is 36 years old, has an income of $92k (more than double the national average), and skews a bit more male (53%) than female (47%). The data presented here is by no means definitive or conclusive; nonetheless, it still provides an interesting snapshot of the drunk shopping market. Overall, 79% of all alcohol-consuming respondents have made at least one drunken purchase in their lifetime — though this varies a bit based on demographics. Clothing and shoes are the goods of choice while drunk Studies have shown that people who base their self-worth on appearance are more likely to imbibe alcohol, so there is some tenuous linkage here. But this also ties in with the rapid rise of the direct-to-consumer fashion industry. Entertainment (movies, games) and tech gadgets are also popular choices — though the party train seems to abruptly halt at software (if you’ve purchased a copy of Microsoft Excel drunk, we need to talk.) So put the glass down before you online shop, it will stay you a lot of money and a financial hangover in the morning. Don't become a victim and get a SUI ( Shopping Under the Influence). It may be hard to repair the damage.