Going to the store while drunk is not a good idea, but that apparently is not preventing a lot of Americans from shopping under the influence.
According to a new study from Finder, some 68 million Americans conduct online shopping while drinking alcohol. That’s about half of the American adults who admit to regular alcohol consumption.
The personal finance service estimates that Americans spent $30.43 billion dollars on “spontaneous drunk purchases” last year. That’s $447.53 per person in 2017, and more than double from the year prior.
“Our research reveals what tipsy shoppers are most likely to spend on while soaking up their alcohol: Some 60.83 percent of shoppers say they spend on food,” Finder said in a news release. “The next most common purchases are shoes and clothes (25.09 percent) and gambling (24.91 percent). Yet others admit to buying concert tickets and even prostitution under the influence. Gives a whole new meaning to “shop ’til you drop!” doesn’t it?”
The Finder’s study reports men spend nearly twice the amount as women while shopping online while drinking. The study says 48.19 percent of men admitted to drunken shopping as compared to 41.36 percent of women.
Married Americans spent twice as much as divorced Americans on drunk purchases, but single people are the most likely to shop online while under the influence. Finders said 55.78 percent of single Americans admitted to drunken purchases compared to 43.63 percent of married drinkers.
Generation X — those born between 1961 and 1980 — spend the most on drunk purchases, shelling out three times more than millennials, those born in the early 1980s to the early 2000s.
