How to Avoid Shopping?

How to avoid shopping? – Statistics and Trends

Despite the cost-of-living crisis and changing consumer habits, shopping is still a significant pastime. According to the Attest website, 65% of British people shop weekly:

Trend 4: Shopping frequency is up

Despite having less money to spend, consumers aren’t going to the shops any less frequently; we see a 6.2 point increase in people shopping “daily” and “weekly”, to 65.5% (a trend largely driven by shoppers over 40).

The Social Shepherd states that in 2024, roughly 2.71 billion people shopped online. E-commerce is more prevalent in the UK than in any other country and accounts for 30% of the retail market. Some statistics about e-commerce shopping behaviours are bizarre, revealing that 43% of online shoppers have reported purchasing while in bed, 23% at the office, and 20% from the bathroom or car. (The Giving Machine)

Impulse shopping, which I wrote about a while back, is still significant. Just under a third make impulse purchases at least a few times a month and explain it with needing a small treat in these difficult times.

How to Avoid Shopping? – The Dark Side

However, not all people like to shop, and not all purchases bring happiness. Shopping has a dark side.

People make many purchases where they never use the items or use them only once.

81% of 18–24-year-olds buy clothing at least once a month. Our nation’s wardrobes hold 1.6 billion items of unworn clothes.

A 2021 survey found that over 80% of Americans have at least one purchase they regret and never use.

About 60% of people own kitchen gadgets they have used only once (or never).

Studies suggest that about 50% of purchased books remain unread.

Parents report that at least 25% of their kids’ toys go unused after the first week.

According to an Oxfam study, textile production contributes more to climate change than international aviation and shipping combined. The Fast Fashion Industry Accounts for Up To 8% Of Carbon Emissions. 93% of brands surveyed by the Fashion Checker are not paying garment workers a living wage.

Clean Hub explains that in 2022, 24 million cubic tonnes of CO2 have been released from online shopping returns:

While many retailers offer free returns to attract more customers, our planet is paying the price. Up to 24 million metric tons of CO2 emissions are attributed to ecommerce returns each year (Optoro, 2022).

I could go on and give you more statistics and information on the dark side of shopping, but this would be too boring and too long for this block post. You get the drift; shopping has some adverse side effects.

How to avoid shopping? – Why do people do it?

We think of shopping in terms of what we buy. But the reason we spend money goes beyond just acquiring things. Shopping, like almost everything we do, is the pursuit of pleasure. It is part of our daily search for happiness. (Peter Noel Murray, Psychology Today)

Capitalism, love it or loath it, is the economic system we currently live under. It relies on constant economic growth. It is beyond the scope of this blog post to give you a detailed analysis of why the two are interlinked or whether, as Lord Nicholas Steren thinks, economic growth and sustainability are not mutually exclusive.

Tahsin from Sustainably Sorted says:

Undeniably we live in a society where consumption is king. We are bombarded every day with marketing. The worst culprit in my mind (perhaps because I just watched The Social Dilemma recently) is social media – can’t go two seconds without an ad popping up in my face.

And it is challenging not to fall prey to it.

Ads for clothing, household goods, electronic items, and more are constantly popping up on our newsfeed, on billboards around town, in printed newspapers, and as flyers through our letterbox. With so much temptation, avoiding the urge to shop can be tricky. Even minimalists like me have fallen prey to this. I bought books because Amazon told me that Book A was frequently bought together with Books B and C.

The reasons why people are shopping are varied, and advertising is only one of them.

In the same article, Tahsin from Sustainably Sorted, quoted earlier, says that clothes shopping is a way to give people confidence and serves as an expression of who we are:

Reason 1: Shopping gives me confidence and reminds me of who I am 

A common reason why fashion is such a thing is that the clothes we wear represent who we are to the world. We can say till we are black and blue in the face that appearances don’t matter and by extension, neither do the clothes we wear, but really how many people buy that line? Not many if we are honest.

People also shop as a way to spend time with others. A trip down the mall can be seen as a fun day out with your best friend. Trying on outfits, having a coffee, and chatting over which iPad to buy can be fun and engaging.

Psychologist Ryan Howell, in a BBC article entitled: Why does shopping feel so good? Believes that shopping represents a scarcity impulse. Howell says the impulse to buy is a survival instinct left over from our hunter-gatherer days.

 Back in our hunter and gatherer days, when people saw something they wanted, they’d grab it, even if they didn’t need it, because it was likely they wouldn’t come across that item again.

Of course, in the 21st Century, scarcity is not an issue for those of us in the West. We can buy nearly anything at the click of a button, providing we have a bit of plastic. But when we see a 50% off clearance price tag, that scarcity impulse kicks into gear, and we feel that it will be gone forever if we do not buy it there and then.

Shopping also makes us feel good. Scott Rick, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Michigan, has found that the concept of retail therapy is real. For some people, if they are feeling sad, shopping will make them happier because it restores some control in their lives.

Of course, the above is only a selection of the many reasons people shop; perhaps, if you can think of any other, you can leave a link in the comments below.

How to Avoid Shopping? – My top ten tips.

1. Unsubscribe from newsletters and marketing emails.

An easy way to avoid being lured into bargains and items you don’t need or didn’t know existed is to unsubscribe from all marketing emails. Brands often sneakily sign you up for email lists or newsletters and bombard you with stuff.

Many people don’t realise this, but emails leave a carbon footprint. The precise amount varies depending on the size of the email, the attachment, and whether it is sent from a phone or a laptop. But over a year, a person’s average email usage varies between 3 to 40kgs CO2e, equivalent to driving between 10 and 128 miles in a small car. With 3.9 billion email users, it adds up. So, by not receiving marketing emails, you save money and CO2.

You can easily unsubscribe, regardless of your email provider. To do this, search for the word ‘unsubscribe’ in your inbox, sort all emails by sender, and then click the respective unsubscribe buttons individually.

2. Use an Ad blocker on your devices to see fewer ads.

Unless you pay for an Ad blocker, seeing no advertising will be impossible, but having a good Ad Blocker helps you reduce the amount of advertising you see. Long gone are the days when ads were few and far between. Social media, which is difficult to avoid altogether, now seems full of sponsored content.

Did you know that ad blockers have been around since 1996? The first of such was Internet Fast Forward, a plugin for the Netscape Navigator browser.

3. Delete your credit card details from online shops to make purchases harder.

Many online retailers allow you to save payment details to make repeat purchases easy and save you time while shopping. Leaving aside any security concerns, it also makes buying mindless stuff at the click of a button too easy. Anyone with an Amazon account or similar will know what I am talking about. I only use Amazon for eBooks, but before I realise it, I will have more books on the Kindle than I have hours to read.

If you need to enter payment details every time you buy something, it makes you less likely to buy random shit as it gives you that extra time to reflect before getting up to find your card details.

4. Use Only Cash

Some of my friends are fearful of cash dying out and the consequences that it brings. To make a political statement, they pay for everything in cash. Other friends pay for everything with their cards or phones to avoid carrying cash around. While I am not convinced cash will die out immediately or fall for all the conspiracy theories a cashless society supposedly brings, I can see the financial benefits of cash.

To avoid overspending, buying mindless shit, and keeping track of what you are spending, why not pay with cash rather than by card. This way, you can only spend the amount you take with you when going out. You can quickly see how much money you have left by counting the notes and coins in your purse.

In an article from June, the 4th 2024, money experts explain the psychological barriers to parting with cash versus paying by card:

When paying with cash, we have to physically count out notes and coins and hand them over. Humans seek to avoid losses, and paying by cash sees us physically lose a tangible object.

Conversely, nothing has to be handed over to pay cashlessly. We don’t lose anything tangible with a swipe or a tap, so it feels less painful.

5. Don’t go to the shopping centre

It might seem obvious, but one way to not shop is to avoid shopping centres or high streets. The more time you spend in shops, the more you will be tempted by window displays, discounts, or the lure of shiny new objects.

Avoiding the mall is the best way to stop shopping impulsively. Avoid places with tons of different stores and many opportunities to find yourself wanting things you didn’t intend to see at all. The mall is a very tempting spot for shopaholics. Go to a stand alone store instead! (Barefoot Minimalists )

6. Have a strict budget.

Whether you are financially struggling or reasonably well off, having a budget and putting aside some money for a rainy day is always a good idea. There are hundreds of budgeting apps and systems out there. I use the ever-popular YNAB. YNAB stands for You Need a Budget and requires users of that system to assign a job to every dollar, pound, or euro. Be it saving or buying groceries. With your money divided into categories and each category given a strict budget, you cannot spend more than you assigned unless you take money from somewhere else.

Of course, you don’t have to use an app or a system such as YNAB, which has a steep learning curve. Just deciding on payday, how much of your money you will allow for personal purchases or random treats will eliminate overspending and the urge to buy random shit.

On their website, Standard Life states several reasons to have a budget. One of them is having control over your spending:

It can give you control over your spending.

A budget involves looking at your current income and outgoings – often by checking things like your payslips, receipts, bills and bank statements. When you create a budget, you usually get a clearer idea of what you can afford, so you don’t have to rely on guessing. From there, you can break your spending down into categories (like ‘food’, ‘mortgage’ and ‘cost of running a car’) and see how much money you need to cover them. By showing you where your money’s going and where it needs to go, a budget can help you prioritise what you spend your money on.

7. Shop in your own home

Before hitting the shops for retail therapy, why not shop in your home? Most of us have more unread books than we have time to read, kitchen gadgets we don’t remember buying and many unworn clothes that let us create new outfits. You could invite your bestie for an afternoon of tea, cake and reading or a few hours trying on new outfits created from your existing wardrobe.

Check whether you already have an item that serves your purpose. Do you need a pizza slicer when a sharp knife will do? Can you use your mobile instead of buying a smartwatch?

8. Delay your purchase

There are several versions of this tactic. Who hasn’t seen something online, in a shop, or at a friend’s house and thought they needed it? I think everyone can relate to it. I bought an electric cleaning brush that was supposed to make removing tough stains a breeze. I used it twice and realised it didn’t eliminate the need to use elbow grease. It was big and took forever to charge.

These days, I write down everything I want to have in my notes app and review it at regular intervals. Half the time, I delete items from the list that seemed like good ideas weeks ago but have now lost their appeal.

I am not alone in doing this. The 30-day rule is a common tactic where instead of buying something on the spot, you wait for a set period, in this case, 30 days. Often, your interest in the purchase will vanish.

This technique is simple: instead of buying an item immediately, you wait for 30 days and then revisit your decision. This waiting period allows for a cooling-off phase where the instant gratification dissipates, and the rationale for buying becomes the center of attention. (Treasurly Leaders

9. One in one out

‘The one-in, one-out rule is a great way to maintain your space. When you decide that for every new item you bring in, you’ll donate or discard one existing item, keeping any space in your home organised becomes easy,’ says Erica Thompson, a professional organiser at Organized By Design. (Home & Gardens)

The one-in-one-out rule is handy to avoid clutter in your home. Obviously, it’s not always feasible as sometimes you need an extra item, such as more socks or an extra towel for guests.

Find alternative hobbies when you get the urge.

As mentioned above, many people view shopping as a hobby, a day out with their bestie. If this is you, perhaps it’s time to find alternative hobbies. I used to be a shopper; I used to randomly go to the stores when I could not think of anything else to do. Not anymore. I have developed alternative pastimes. I go on long hikes or sit in cafes reading books. What could you do instead of shopping? Have a think, and let me know in the comments below.

How to Avoid Shopping? – Conclusion

Of course, I am not asking anyone to become an extreme minimalist who owns one shirt and one plate, which is unrealistic for most people. The occasional splurge is absolutely permissible. But many people’s spending and shopping habits are out of control, and many would like to shop a little less, spend less and have less clutter in their house. I hope the above has given you some pointers.