Brits haven't lost the urge to splurge
Our families might be feeling the squeeze, but we haven’t lost our urge to splurge, with the average Brit expected to spend more than £70,000 on impulse buys over a lifetime.
A survey of more than 2,000 customers conducted by npower hometeam 50, which is currently giving cash back to thousands of customers, suggests that whilst half of people choose to save spare cash from their monthly income, triggers such as receiving birthday money, coming into an unexpected windfall such as cash back from a company, or a small win on the lottery, will result in a spur of the moment purchase.
More than a third of consumers treat themselves to an impulse buy at least once a week spending on average £21.34. That’s £1,114.56 a year and an incredible £70,217.28 forked out during the average adult lifetime. Surprisingly, men spend more on impulse buys than women frittering away £25.67 per week compared to a more frugal £18.89.
Items such as food, clothes, magazines and wine prove irresistible for girls when passing through the high street or supermarket, whilst books, shoes and toiletries also top the list for compulsive female shoppers. Predictably, food, beer and DVDs are the most common treats for their male counterparts.
Emily Stagg, from npower hometeam 50, said: “General consensus would have it that British consumers are trying to save every penny at the moment, but our research suggests that when we come into a small windfall, such as a small win on the lottery or cash back, we’re still more likely to treat ourselves or our loved ones.
“£20 a week might not seem a lot, but can add up to a huge amount over a lifetime. For £70,000 you could easily put a large deposit on a house, pay off all your debits or buy a sports car.”
70 per cent admit they are more likely to give in to temptation if there is a sale on. But 61 per cent of women firmly cite retail therapy as a reason for shopping on impulse, and often spend more money if they are feeling a bit down or depressed compared to just 38 per cent of men.
When it comes to confessing all to a partner, 33 per cent of girls admit they don’t bother telling him about their recent purchases. A fifth of couples argue regularly as a direct result of overspending each week, and 67 per cent of women admit they are definitely the worst for impulse buys.
Emily Stagg continues: “As part of our hometeam 50 product, we’ll be giving cashback to thousands of hometeam 50 customers over the next 12 months – that’s an awful lot of impulse buys!
“With the average payout up to £90, it’s enough to cover everything on the list of our top 20 impulse buys – or maybe even a few in one go! And while it won’t quite stretch to a holiday it’ll definitely pay for the first few rounds of cocktails!”
The cashback campaign will see hometeam 50 customers who signed up to the boiler and central heating care product 12 months ago and who haven’t had to call out npower’s hometeam, receive 50% of the amount they paid npower, back.
For more details on npower hometeam 50, visit npower.com/hometeam.
Top 20 ‘impulse buys’
1. Food
2. Clothes
3. Magazines
4. Bottles of wine
5. Books
6. DVDs
7. Shoes
8. Holidays
9. Beer
10. Toiletries
11. Home furnishings
12. Music
13. Clothes for the children
14. Jewellery
15. Accessories
16. Gadgets
17. Garden accessories
18. Flowers
19. Toys
20. Day trips