Quarantine shopping habits.

Shopping habits have been changing in recent years mostly due to social media,  this is not new. You can find several studies/articles about it:

This is how the pandemic has changed our shopping habits

Young people have grown up seeing their favourite singers, actors on TV, on instagram and quickly searching online if they can get a similar shirt to the one their idol is wearing. See it, buy it. 

This “new shopping habit” has led to services like Klarna to flourish among younger consumers.

I consciously had tried to keep away from this new trend, because I understood how dangerous it can be purchasing things over one click. I love marketing, I studied it a lot in Uni, I know how easy it is for brands to manipulate us, so I always avoided online shopping.

But then Covid-19 hit us, really hard, and all our habits changed and  unfortunately I joined the ranks of online shoppers. 

My timeline this year was mostly this:

First 2 to 3 months I barely bought shoes, clothing. Uncertainty levels were high (work uncertainty, unexpected expenses could possibly happen). Clothes are not priorities, let’s save money. I didn’t buy anything. 

After the 3 months mark, some shops started to open and I missed the retail experience. Very occasionally I started visiting certain stores, wearing a mask and avoiding peak hours. Many stores were also re-opening with a lot of summer sales on and I ended up buying a few things.

When my uncertainty and anxiety levels  started to decrease and I wanted to take advantage of brands summer sales, but not wanting to go to physical stores frequently,  I started going to their websites, downloading their apps, etc. 

Got a bonus at work, purchasing levels increased a bit.

Five to 6 months into quarantine/lock-down, I started to decrease my shopping levels and it has been declining ever since.

Negative sides of online shopping:

• It Is Just So Easy to get carried away.
• Brands lure you into payment plans (which is a big No – No for me. Don’t use credit to purchase clothing/shoes/accessories).
• High chances of impulsive shopping.
• Constant push notifications from brands about new stuff available.

Positive sides:

• If you know the brand, your size, their models, you know the item will fit you, it’s much easier to purchase an item you want. Convinient, buy it, get it at home. 
• When you download the app or register w/ their newsletter brands usually offer around 10% discount, with your first online purchase. 
• Allows social distancing 😀 dhuuu obviously.

I got to a point where I was happy with all the things I bought and started realising I actually need to go outdoors to wear them, which nowadays I am lacking the opportunity. So until I can wear my new things, I will try not to spend a lot of money. 

My opinion about online shopping habits is, it can be beneficial specially during covid-19 times, but be very mindful of what you are doing. You need to be super alert of your finances, your budget and have self-control to stop when you have to. 

If you know you can’t control yourself then Uninstall the Apps, Unsubscribe the newsletters NOW. Clothes are non essential items and your personal style doesn’t depend on brands. Trust.

My name is Franca and this is personal.