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Have you ever bought something while drunk and then later regretted it? You’re far from alone.
About one in six Americans have done some shopping while drunk over the past 12 months, according to a new study.
That means that over the last year about 45 million people in the United States have bought something while they were impaired.
Perhaps even worse, the average amount each of the people surveyed spent while drunk was around $309!
Here’s what else the study conducted by consumer research platform Finder discovered.
As far as what people are buying, tied for the top two shopping categories are shoes, clothes or accessories and food, with 47% of drunk shoppers saying they bought items in these categories. Other popular drunk spending categories were alcohol, cigarettes and gambling, all tied with 34% of respondents. Motor vehicles come out on top as the most expensive category at an average spend of $2,038.
Interestingly, men went drunk shopping almost three times the rate of women.
“The top drunk shopping option for women are shoes, clothes or accessories (50%), whereas men are most likely to buy food (47%),” the report states.
Millennials are also significantly more likely to drunk shop than baby boomers (33% to 2%).
“Food was the top choice for boomers at 45%, with alcohol the most popular option for Gen X at 45%. Shoes, clothes or accessories was most commonly bought by both Gen Y (52%) and Gen Z (44%),” the report reads.
Regionally, drunk shopping is pretty evenly distributed: 20% in the West, 18% in the South, 17% in the Northeast, and 17% in the Midwest.
“Shoes, clothes or accessories were the most commonly shopped category in the Midwest (48%) and South (50%), while food was the top option in the Northeast (52%) and West (49%),” claims the report.
As the report also points out, “More money, more drunk shopping.”
People earning more than $100,000 do a lot more drunk shopping than people who earn under $100K.
“The most commonly purchased item by those earning less than $100K was food (45%), compared to shoes, clothes or accessories for those earning more than $100K (56%),” the report reveals.
According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, about 38 million adults in the United States drink too much.
So, 45 million people doing some shopping while drunk seems about right, if not a little low.