Happy post St. Patrick's Day weekend! It's Tuesday, which means if you were out celebrating, your hangovers should be wearing off right about now. :|
According to a survey by Finder.com, in 2017 68 million Americans admitted to some form of imbibed online spending to the tune of $448 on average per person. In total, us consumers spent $30 billion! What's more, we (ok, really me) have a tendency to think it's the Millennials pushing this digital heavy trend. Not the case. Generation X dished out the most money on average tallying $738.87 while everyone under the age of 34 spent around $206.11.
Why are they doing this: Hello, it's the economy! Just last week we saw a boost of 300,000 jobs, micro-bonuses are being paid out, consumer sentiment has been the highest its been in years. While it may seem like overarching economic indicators, the consumer is in general feeling better about their expenditures.
Women vs. men: It may be a shock to some, but WOMEN are spending less ($282.65 on average) vs. their male counterparts who are more likely to spend spend more per purchase ($564.51).
Deep dive: According to eBay, the busiest time of day is from 6:30 to 10:30 in each time zone. Asked if drinking might be a factor, Steve Yankovich, vice president for mobile for eBay, said, “Absolutely.” He added: “I mean, if you think about what most people do when they get home from work in the evening, it’s decompression time. The consumer’s in a good mood.”
ChannelAdvisor, which runs e-commerce for hundreds of sites, says its order volumes peak about 8 p.m., and that shoppers are placing orders later and later: in 2017, the number of orders placed from 9 to midnight increased compared with previous years.
Late night offers: Notice late night emails slipping into your in box? That's not a mistake. Neiman Marcus, Gilt, Net-a-Porter and other online stores send offers/limited quantity sales from 6 to 9 p.m. Other offers have included a promotion for three-day stays at Lowes hotels; at 8:44 p.m., a promotion by Gilt for macaroons and faux-fur blankets; and at 2:23 a.m., an offer by Saks for a $2,000 gift card with purchase.
What's everyone spending on? Shoes and clothes of course. Around 25% of purchases focus on apparel and footwear. Other purchases include cigarettes, gambling, online movies + DVDs and technology.
The awesome Erica Hill and I discuss this phenom and what happens if you wake up with buyers remorse, i.e., can you take this shiz back? (the purchases not everything that happened the night before.) Check it out the link up top!