Consumer Corner: How to cut back on social media shopping

When it's just a click of a button away, its hard to resist the impulse to buy - but do you really need it?

A woman is shopping on a digital tablet on a shopping website on the internet. Screen content is photographer's own design/imagery.

In the 'olden days' the most temptation we had when shopping was the chocolate bars at the till when we were waiting to pay for our groceries. Things are very different now in this world of technology domination and temptation is rife when it comes to shopping. Especially online.

Online spending is having a moment and more and more people and clicking for their items online. According to PayPay online shopping in Ireland increased 41% alone last year. E-commerce sales accounted for 13.2% of total sales in 2021 and the number of females purchasing online is substantially higher than males.

As we join the likes of Facebook and Instagram we are giving away so much of our personal data that these companies can use to pass onto retailers who will hunt down shoppers online and target them with that beach bag they were googling recently. The dangers are such that as we dip into social media to see what’s happening up pops the ad for the bag and with the click of a button it can be yours from the comfort of your bed. This is where we have to battle with temptation like never before. It's the equivalent of someone in Brown Thomas approaching you with the lipstick you have been thinking about recently.

Social shopping, which is shopping via social media sites is a massive growth area for brands. Worldwide figures from Accenture show that social shopping is expected to grow three times as fast as traditional shopping to $1.2 trillion by 2025, which is up from $492 billion now. 

In addition to ads we also have ‘influencers’ who are paid a lot of money by companies to sell us things like toothbrushes and fizzy sweets. Of course there can be benefits to having someone show you a nice lipstick without you having to go anywhere but for social shopping to succeed in your life you have to have discipline.

Discipline and money

John Lowe of Moneydoctors.ie said that when we have such an easy purchase as clicking on a button, sometimes money is not even considered and we buy impulsively.

“If that same person did a proper budget monthly knowing how much surplus cash they have to spend every month, they might think twice about these impulsive spends. Discipline is the word I’d use, the buyer needs discipline and money,” he said.

In order to stop yourself spening your money so impulsively here are some tips for ending social shopping overspend.

Firstly, do not have your credit and debit cards set to come up automatically on your phone or laptop. For each purchase make sure you have to have to input the details as this will make you think more about the purchase.

Secondly, set yourself a budget for social shopping each month and stick to it. The next tip is to never shop before you go to sleep at night. Pop the item in your basket, give yourself 24 hours to think about it to ensure you really want it. Tip four is to check the returns policy and see if it will cost you much to return the item.

Of course if you are being really disciplined then you should cut out all social shopping after a certain time of the day. Those late night pillow purchases are the ones that can come back to bite you. Above all, never shop with a glass of wine in your hand. That can only lead to a sling back disaster.