Impulse shopping has become the norm for Americans this year, with frantic orders placed for products in multiple categories!

Despite the gloomy market environment of the US economy, consumers are still increasing their spending.

Americans are spending more on impulse purchases than they have in the past two years, according to new research from Slickdeals. While inflation has impacted budgets for many basic shopping categories, the frequency of impulse purchases by American consumers has increased.

73% of respondents said that most of their purchases are spontaneous, a significant increase from the 59% who held the same sentiment in last year's study.

According to a study on Americans' impulse spending trends, 64% of people will increase their impulse shopping habits in 2022.

Currently, the average American spends $314 per month on impulse purchases, up from $276 in 2021 and $183 in 2020. In addition, the average person spends $310 on a single item, also higher than $277 in 2021 and $157 in 2020.

Although more Americans have begun to turn to offline shopping after the epidemic control was completely lifted, consumers still have a lot of impulse buying behaviors when purchasing goods such as clothing, groceries and household items, both now and in the early days of the epidemic.

According to sales data for the first quarter of 2022 released by the U.S. Department of Commerce in April, department store sales increased by 5.4%, clothing sales increased by 2.6%, and restaurant sales increased by 1%.

The study found that Americans are most likely to make impulse purchases in the following categories: apparel ( 35%), food and groceries (30%), home furnishings (29%), shoes (28%) and technology (27%).

In addition, there are books ( 27%), takeaway food (26%), toys (25%), coffee (25%) and spa services (24%).

The data shows that more than half (52%) of Americans shop equally online and in-store, compared to 42% in 2021 and 53% in 2020 who shop primarily online. When shopping online, 70% are more likely to make impulse purchases on their phones while lying in bed - up from 68% in 2021 and 66% in 2020. The data shows that shopping in bed accounts for 37% of overall impulse purchases.

67% say spontaneous impulse purchases have a positive impact on their mood – a 2% increase from last year. Emotions shoppers feel after making a purchase include happiness (41%) and excitement (40%) – but 34% admit they simply shop out of boredom. 67% of people make impulse purchases out of fear of missing out.

Louie Patterson, personal finance content manager at Slickdeals, said the fear of missing out is a powerful motivator for impulse shopping, as shown in the survey, where 58% of Americans reported that unplanned purchases actually saved them money.

For sellers, they can grasp the consumer psychology of Americans, focus on popular categories, and carry out discount promotions, which will surely usher in a counter-cyclical growth in sales.

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