Small Indulgences: Stressed-out consumers want to indulge in affordable luxuries and seek ways to reward themselves
A quotidian behavior as of today is the act of impulsively buying. Research has shown according to a survey conducted by Slickdeals.net, the average U.S consumer spends up tp $5,400 annually, on unplanned purchases. Although, these spontaneous moments mainly is attributed to food shopping. Following closely behind that, was of course pertaining to consumers involved in taking advantage of a deal or sales period a store is having. Now my next question would be what motivates impulsive buying ? Is it necessarily a bad thing ? are we really gaining or losing ? People who tend to buy unplanned items are often times anxious or unhappy and leads to financial instability. Luckily there is a cure to this which is easier said than done. But according to Ian Zimmermman asking yourself “ Did I plan to buy this, or did I get the urge to buy it just now?” is a great way to help self refrain from this act.
Forces influencing this issue in my opinion could be several things, in order of importance, some of which are the use and availability of credit cards, pop up/flash sales, an individual's income raise/level, display of new styles on mannequins, and store characteristics. Credit cards are probably the most effective medium of buying good not catered for. They are also very easily accessible that there will constantly be an increase in the future in the number of people who buy on impulse and increase in the amount spent on each buy. Flash sales conducted by stores always will serve as an incentive for a consumer to buy impulsively. Sales go as low in prices that consumers are willing to buy two of the exact same products just because it doesn't hurt their pockets, or so they think. And this from my personal retail experience Shedding light on the rise of individual income influencing impulsive behaviour, when there's an increase in profit, more money is allocated to spending on clothes, therefore also resulting in a higher urge to buy more than what is needed.. Furthermore, I for one, is the culprit of buying items I see on display passing by stores or even flash ads when surfing the internet. Lastly, store experience. The interior of some stores sometimes entices consumers to buy product not planned for. But just because of the set up and use of space,decor, controlled aesthetic, one is moved to spend money.
According to research, 84% of Ameicans admit to impulse buying. Infact, 54% of consumers have spent more than 100$ on an impulse purchase, and 20% have spent over 1,000$. (Quicksprout, 2018). With that being said, I feel the fashion industry should follow this trend as impulse buyers are the target market to increase business revenue. Various ways by which this is carried out are by focusing on the right products, creating “fear of missing out”, simplifying the buying process and placing items strategically. Be it in store or online. These are different ways businesses get control our buying habits, I personally don't see it minimizing in the future as consumers are easy to manipulate and still over the years, we've seen increment in this sector. Nobody is immune to this habit. Brands, businesses, products all are arranged in such a way to entice consumers to spend more money and would just keep denting our pockets and increasing data on the level of financial problems. It's in our hands, the power to control ourselves in making more economical decisions on whether or not product is needed before purchase because I personally don't see business changed their strategy any time soon.
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