Blog Marco

Christmas is coming up again - and is heralding another shopping season. And when people are in the mood for a spot of shopping, I'm sure there would be a lot of impulse buying happening too. Impulse buying is great isn't it? We feel like we need the product, it's right there and by buying it we can quench whatever thirst for shopping we had.

Impulse buying makes us feel good. And that's the problem. Impulsive purchases has the potential to be an addictive hobby, to break budgets and to fill homes with plenty of useless junk which you wonder week's later as to why you bought the products in the first place.

Some people may argue that impulse buys aren't all bad. Why would that be? I don't see any reason why impulse buys would be good for you (unless you see shopping as therapeutic, which isn't good either - pick a better hobby!). Before going shopping I always make sure I have a list which I know fits in my budget with the stuff I need (or want, people need some luxuries too). Sometimes I do find a product that I had previously made a mental note to buy which I do end up buying. I don't classify this as impulse buying since you have already made a decision to buy it before you were at the shopping mall.

A recent example of this happened last weekend. I was out in the local town centre getting my haircut. Doing some window shopping I spied on a bike shop and I remembered that I made a mental note about two or three months ago to buy two things from a bike shop: a pouch and a new helmet. Two things in my budget, which I had needed. Although I didn't go out that day to do any shopping I had previously made the decision that these products were in my "mental shopping list" and were just waiting to be purchased.

An impulse buy happens when you get caught up in the hype of a situation and you buy something spontaneously without thinking much about it. Impulse items may be new products, samples or well-established products at unexpected low prices. Marketers would tempt shoppers with discounted bargains, with smart product placement (Lollies in the aisles at child eye-level) or other emotional persuaders.

Situations that play on shoppers impulsiveness include: items on sale tables that advertise 'huge bargains' or '10% off all items' or the enticement of announcements that something is half price for the next 5 minutes. Impulse buying makes you spend money on items you may not really need or want. To avoid impulse buying you need to ask yourself if you really need the item or just want it.

Reasons why you may impulse buy:

• "Just in case"
• "I just gotta have it"
• Emotions
• Convenience
• "Wow, this is a great product" (Re:Gadgets)
• "I know someone who would absolutely love this"
• "I deserve this"

Ways to prevent impulse buying:

• Have a shopping list before going to the shops
• Sleep on it, or even better wait a few days or even a week!
• When you do sleep on it, think if you need it, want it, can afford it, can find a better price or even just borrow it from someone else.
• Have a budget
• Fewer trips to the shops

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