Lord Tan
Shopping is easily accessible today with the influx of online shopping sites. If you needed something – groceries, even – you can just be comfortably seated at your desk in the office or at home and do your shopping with a click of a button. Want that bar of soap? You can purchase one online easily too. Everything is then delivered to your location of choice, isn’t that convenient?
However, if you do find yourself purchasing several different items in addition to the one you originally needed, you probably are an impulsive shopper. Not only through ecommerce does impulse shopping happen of course, window shopping in a shopping mall is one of the largest culprits of impulse shopping – the original motivator for impulse shopping, if you will.
We are constantly bombarded with many reminders and encouragements for shopping almost every day through advertisements on billboards, in magazines, through the TV, et cetera. Even in the Internet these adverts track your browsing history and show you offers and promotions that are relevant to your interests. These things constantly hound us to create a temptation to buy many unnecessary things.
So why does an Impulsive Shopper shop on an impulse?
One of the biggest reasons as to why impulse shopping happens is plain and simple: LIFESTYLE
- People cull their free time through impulsive shopping sprees.
- This is made even easier with easy Internet connectivity every day, 24/7.
- Even when you’re on the go with a smartphone! There are many apps out there that let us browse online marketplaces wherever we are.
STRESS is also a contributing factor to the making of an impulsive buyer. Shopping may relieve your stress but may lead to unhealthy spending habits.
- Impulsive shopping becomes a new method of coping with stress.
- People want instantaneous solutions to their stress- instant gratification.
We have all been there at some point, feeling a bit down in the dumps or having an intensely stressful day at work. Because of such negative feelings, we then conclude that we deserve a reward or compensation of sorts to make ourselves feel better; so we end up buying something to make ourselves feel better. It could be food, or some other material items, but it ultimately is an impulsive purchase.
How does one avoid the urge to shop on an impulse? Here are a few suggestions:
- Have a Waiting Period: If you see something that you would really like but not what you need, give it a time to make the purchase. Waiting most often prevents us from spending impulsively as the infatuation for the thing wears off.
- Pay With Cash: We tend to spend more with credit and debit cards, pay with cash to limit your spending.
- Unsubscribe from Leaflets or Newsletters:
Every time you create an account on an e-commerce site to buy something, your email is automatically logged onto their subscription list for adverts and promotions. Unsubscribing from these online leaflets or newsletters will help avoid being inundated with an email appearing in your inbox every few minutes.
Make a Shopping List: Make a list for all your shopping, be it groceries, tools, clothes or gadgets. From your list, rank which is most needed or important. Then, go online to search and compare prices. Making a list gives you a game plan of time so that you won’t be distracted by things that you don’t need. This helps you stay focussed and stick to your budget.
