Do you suffer from shoppers guilt?
An impulse purchase can give us quite the rush, and thanks to London Fashion Week, we’ve never been subjected to as much fashion in the press as we are during this time.
It comes as no surprise then that over half of Uk shoppers admit they’ve recently bought something on an impulse.
Brit’s weakness for retail therapy is an expensive habit however, with Brits spending £3.6billion each year on clothes, shoes and handbags they just don’t need.
The average wardrobe holds £92 worth of unworn clothes and a quarter of women blame this excess on their emotions, according to the research from VoucherCodes.co.uk.
In fact, the number one buying excuse in the UK is ‘I’m feeling really down so I deserve this’. More than one in five admit they spoil themselves on payday, knowing full well they don’t need the items, while one in eight claim they live by the spending mantra, ‘there’s only one left in my size, it’s meant to be’.
Top ten impulse-buy excuses:
1. ‘I’m feeling really down so I deserve a treat’
2. ‘I’ve just been paid so I deserve a treat’
3. ‘There’s only one left in my size, it’s meant to be’
4. ‘I’ve had a terrible day and this will make up for it’
5. ‘If I buy this in a smaller size it will encourage me to slim into it’
6. ‘My life will be better because of it’
7. ‘All my friends have this and I’ll look silly if I don’t’
8. ‘If I buy this it will make the other things I own better’
9. ‘Everyone’s seen me in all my things on Facebook so I have to buy something new’
10. ‘I’m too embarrassed to say no to the sales assistant’
For Brits struggling during the recession, the experience of ‘spend guilt’ is nothing new; over two thirds of shoppers confess they regularly splurge out in the sales, despite the fact they know they’ll end up buying things they don’t need. Of these, only six per cent will return things they feel guilty about buying.
Women fall prey to temptation more often than men, owning £22 more guilty purchases on average than men - £92 compared with £70.They’re also a third more likely to make an excuse when they make a purchase. Payday is the weakest shopping time for men with one in five claiming they treat themselves to something when their pay cheque comes in.
Anita Naik, consumer editor at VoucherCodes.co.uk commented: “We’ve all been guilty of making a flimsy excuse to buy something we know we don’t need – and we’ve all felt that shame afterwards when we realise we’ve wasted cash on something that will just end up at the back of your wardrobe.
“If you need to feel that high street buzz every now and again, take your credit cards out of your purse before you head out and withdraw the cash you know you can afford to spend before you hit the shops. With a finite amount of cash you’ll be far more aware of spending it on the things you really will enjoy. Alternatively, if you’re one of those people with endless buying excuses up their sleeves, online shopping could be the way to go – fill a basket, walk away from the computer for half an hour and see if that must-have luxury handbag still holds the same appeal once the initial shopping buzz has worn off.”
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