We’ve heard of drunk Facebooking and drunk dialing, but there’s a new one to add to the list – drunk shopping. It turns out that almost 1 in 5 of those who drink (17%) admit to shopping under the influence over the past 12 months. That’s an estimated 4.3 million of us!
This drunk shopping habit ends up totalling to an estimated $724 million, according to a survey of 2,000 Canadian adults in June 2018. Perhaps now we should be handing over our credit cards as well as our car keys when a boozy night looms.
What are most likely to buy when we shop under the influence? It’s an equal tie between food and clothing, with 47% of those who drunk shop doing each of them. Following this is gambling (25%) and cigarettes (25%).
As for the least likely item? A car, with only 1% of Canadians who’ve made drunk purchases in the past making this mistake. Other notable things we’ve bought under the influence is a travel trailer and stocks.
Let’s break it down
Generation
Millennials are the most likely to drink and shop, at 35% of those who drink. This is followed by Gen Xers at 19%, then baby boomers at a much smaller 6%.
Millennials beat out all other generations when it comes to drunk buying clothing (53%), cigarettes (28%), narcotics (12%), music (18%), vacations (16%), pets (9%) and furniture (8%). Gen Xers, on the other hand, are the most likely to go drunk gambling (30%), buy movies (17%), other tech products (18%) food (50%), a car (2%) and a motorbike (4%). Baby boomers aren’t as into drunk shopping as the other generations, but they tie in equal second place with Gen Xers as buying a vacation after a few drinks (13%).
Despite this, when baby boomers do drunk shop, they go big, spending an estimated $191 on average. Gen Xers follow at $173, then millennials at $158.
Gender
Men are only slightly more likely to make drunk purchases than women, at 18% of men who drink compared to 16% of women. They’re also spending more on average on drunk purchases over the past 12 months, at $189 compared to a lower average of $151 for women.
Women are more likely to drunk buy clothing (55% compared to 40% of men who make drunk purchases) and food (49% compared to 46% of men). Men are more likely to buy all other categories, as seen in the graph below.
Region
Two regions tie as equally likely to drunk shop: the Atlantic Region and the Prairie Provinces at 19% of those who drink each. Central Canada follows (16%), then the West Coast (15%).
Those on the West Coast are most likely to drunk buy clothing (55%), while Central Canada is the only region with those who have bought a car while drunk (2%, compared to 0% for all other regions).
Those in the Prairie Provinces are most likely to drunk buy food (56%), narcotics (10%), cigarettes (33%), movies (19%) and to gamble (35%). The Atlantic Region holds those most likely to buy music while under the influence (21%) and a motorbike (5%).
How does Canada’s drunk shopping compare to the US?
In the US, nearly half of those who drink (46%) drunk shop. In comparison, only 17% of Canadian drinkers have admitted to this problem in the past 12 months. However while baby boomers spend the most drunk shopping in Canada, it’s Generation X who are making it rain in the US – they’re spending $982 (US$739) on average, compared to Canada’s baby boomers at a much more respectable $191.
For more on how we compare to the US, check out how their drunk shopping habit has changed over the years.
How can we stop our drunk shopping habit?
Luckily for us, this isn’t the first time someone’s woken up with a hangover and a extra-long credit card bill. We’ve rounded up some of the best apps and Chome plugins you can use to avoid this.
| Brand | Features |
|---|
| Icebox | - This free Chrome extension, developed by finder.com, lets you put your purchases “on ice” for a spell until you’re able to complete it.
- Replaces the buy button on the most popular e-commerce sites.
- Also can add a reminder to put your purchase “on ice” on over 400 online stores.
- Set cooling period for as long as you wish.
- Available for devices using Google Chrome.
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| Drnkpay | - Link your credit and debit cards to the app, and choose how many drinks you plan to have in advance.
- Select which types of payments to block for 12 hours, including bars, restaurants, online shopping and more.
- If you try to make a purchase, a breathalyzer that’s connected to your system through Bluetooth is used to authorize the payment.
- If you’re under your predefined limit, the payment can be made. Otherwise, the cards are blocked and can’t be used.
- If your cards are all blocked, a special feature allows you to call an Uber to get home safely.
- Available for iOS and Android devices.
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| Focus Me | - Block any websites, like Amazon or your favorite stores, for a certain amount time.
- Track the time you spend on certain websites to maximize efficiency.
- Create custom focus plans tailored to your personal routine to boost your productivity.
- Available for macOS, Windows 10, Windows 8 and Windows 7 devices.
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| Freedom | - Block websites, apps or even the whole Internet with the click of a button.
- Start a block on the fly or schedule blocks in advance, like during the hours you’re most likely under the influence.
- Create customizable block lists, like one with all your go-to stores for drunk shopping.
- Available for macOS, Windows Vista, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7 and iOS devices.
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This data is from a survey of 2,000 Canadian adults commissioned by finder.com and conducted by OnePoll in June 2018. Due to not having enough respondents, the North region (Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Yukon Territory) were not included in the geographical breakdown.
