There is little disagreement that shopping comprises a significant portion of our lives. And to some extent, this is entirely expected—to live is to consume. However, in most developed nations, shopping has long since passed the role of necessity and has entered the realm of sport.
Our fascination with shopping and consumption has produced many harmful effects on our lives (debt, stress, and busyness). And yet, it continues. Unfortunately, to a degree that few us even realize.
Based on a variety of studies and research methods, here are 17 staggering statistics that articulate our current passion and obsession for shopping:
1. The average woman makes 301 trips to the store annually, spending close to 400 hours a year shopping. This amounts to 8.5 years spent shopping during a typical lifespan. (NY Daily News)
2. Americans spend more on shoes, jewelry, and watches ($100 billion) than on higher education. (Psychology Today)
3. Shopping malls outnumber high schools in America. (Affluenza)
4. 33% of Americans shop online at least once per week. 69% shop online at least monthly. (Mintel)
5. While 50% of online shoppers will increase the size of their orders just to hit the free shipping minimum. (Mintel)
6. An estimated two-thirds of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) comes from retail consumption. (The Balance).
7. On average, an American between the ages of 18 and 65 has $4,717 of credit card debt. (TIME)
8. 63% of Americans do not have enough savings to cover a $500 emergency. (Forbes)
9. When asked about hobbies, girls (age 13-18) identified shopping as their favorite pastime. (Adweek)
10. And 96% of adults and 95% of teens admit they participate in some form of retail therapy. (Yahoo)
11. More than a third of adults and teens said shopping made them feel better than working out. (Yahoo)
12. The average American throws away 65 pounds of clothing per year. (Huffington Post)
13. The $8 billion home organization industry has more than doubled in size since the early 2000’s—growing at a staggering rate of 10% each year. (Uppercase, note: link no longer available)
14. Americans now spend more money on dining out than groceries. (Fox News)
15. The average American woman spends 190 hours each year shopping for clothes, shoes, or window shopping. That same survey found that these same women spend 95 hours shopping for food—this task occupies only half the time of shoe, clothes and window shopping. (Forbes)
16. 50% of Americans will go shopping on Black Friday. (Syracuse)
17. Worldwide, total retail sales were more than $22 trillion in 2014, according to a report from eMarketer.com. And total annual U.S. retail sales have increased an average of 4.5% between 1993 and 2015, according to the U.S. (The Balance)
The numbers paint a jarring picture of excessive shopping and unnecessary consumption. This fascination with shopping might be okay if it was improving the happiness of our lives. But as most of us know, the happiness derived from accumulating material possessions doesn’t last. We ought to be looking elsewhere.
Wendy says
I’m in Scotland and this is familiar to me too. We don’t have Thanksgiving, but some enterprising retailers have introduced Black Friday here. The day after Christmas, some shops now open at 6am, which means staff have to go in on Christmas to set up the sales merchandise. Shops always used to close on 26 December and 1 January (New Year is a big deal here) but not any more. The online sales start on Christmas Eve and run throughout Christmas day, so someone is at work keeping the server up and running. I sympathise with those retail employees who are also parents, who work so hard to create a lovely Christmas for their kids but don’t get a chance to relax themselves.
It’s completely unnecessary. It seems like nothing except money matters to some people.
Fabian says
Wow, Joshua, great compilation of information that is stunning and scaring at the same time. Isn’t it amazing that we spend more then 1 entire week shopping each years. Even worse, whatever we buy is not made to last anymore which is putting us into a vicious circle of need to buy the same stuff continuously and over and over again. In addition we are made to think that whenever a new version of a product is out, the old one is not worth a dime anymore. Being able to take a step back becomes an ever more important skill in todays world. We have been covering the topic of focussing in a blog post some weeks ago, we would appreciate your feedback!
Ute says
Hi,
I’m writing from Germany. We are going in the same direction as the US when it comes to consumption and buying stuff we don’t really need.
But still some things are quite different: On Sundays shops are still closed and our holidays are taken very seriously. And even as I live in a big city (Cologne) Sundays are still very different from the rest of the week – somewhat quiet, shifted down.
Thank you so much for your thoughts, I really enjoy reading this blog.
All the best, Ute
Kathie says
I know too well about shopping therapy. Shop when you are depressed or your marriage is lacking something. For a little while you had something to do together. I have learned not to go to the stores except groceries or essentials. I am debt free and this course is the next step for me. I have been itching to clear out my bathroom and then it struck me I was telling myself I had to wait until I was told that was the room we were working. I had to do it the right way. This week’s work has given me permission to get rid of all the toiletries and things that have accumulated since who knows when?
One last comment about free give aways, I was always taking whatever was offered and then feeling guilty because I had no use for it. I couldn’t throw it out so it is somewhere in the clutter. I see for me it is going to be refraining my thinking and the clearing will not be as big a struggle.
Becca Fuller says
I have always wondered what Americans do on the weekend besides go to the Mall and go out to eat. In Europe you see people visiting together in parks, playing bocce, hiking, visiting museums, walking around towns…. Americans (and yes – I am one, though not a Mall type) mainly go to the Mall.
Rohvannyn Shaw says
Wow! Suddenly I feel really great about my shopping habits. Shoes? Every couple of years, one pair. Clothes shopping? Half prices and thrift stores and online bargain places, and only if the old ones are worn out. Increasing orders to get the free shipping? Sure, but I plan in the things I wanted to buy anyway. Groceries? Once a week… with the bulk every two weeks.
I could improve but I feel like I have a good start.
kim domingue says
Shopping 301 days a year……average. 400 hours shopping…..
average. Wow. I go into town one day a week to do my grocery shopping and run any errands that need to be taken care of and to tank up the car every so often. On average 4 to 5 hours times 52 weeks equals 208 to260 hours a year so let’s go with 260 hours to account for trips to the lumberyard, hardware store, etc. And my 260 hours is including errands that are NOT shopping. So even if two thirds of those hours are spent in a store shopping that’s only 172 hours a year. Hmmmm. I guess I’m okay with that. My day in town is also getting me out of the house….. I’d be a hermit if it weren’t for having to buy groceries, lol!
Marilyn says
Good for you Rohvannyn! I avoid shopping as much as possible. I have never enjoyed shopping, but now I actually dislike it. I probably spend less than 100 hours a year shopping and only when necessary.
Candace Anderson says
Bravo! Some solid statistics about the insanity of the popular past time of shopping. Thank you.
Annette Lessmann says
As I read this post I wondered how we spent our time 150 years ago. We were busy creating food (growing and canning and drying it) and it took a lot more than the 10 minutes I took the other day to vacuum and dust to clean a house. We sewed our own clothing and washed by hand all that we wore. My family went to a bootmaker for shoes though hubby’s family made their own shoes. Even less than 100 years ago my hubby’s family farmed with horses. We were busy. Much too busy to waste time.
When my teenage daughter lived at home we spent time shopping because she would talk to me while we browsed. When she grew up and moved away I became a non-retail browser and was astonished at what I didn’t need to buy. Just being in a store makes a person want what is there.
In conclusion we don’t shop at stores that are open on thanksgiving period. And we never ever shop on the day after thanksgiving.
Janet Armstrong says
A very eye opening and shocking list of stats! This tells me we are really moving away (at an alarming rate!) from self-sufficiency (clothing repair, hand made goods, crafting) toward an ever increasing, and I dare say exponentially increasing, throw away/disposable society. Lost skills, lost art, lost education and knowledge.
I personally put myself on a one year no clothing, footwear, accessory moratorium a couple of years ago. It was a fascinating experience. I found myself reading more, re-engaging in my creative pursuits, walking, back to the gym …. all much healthier than retail therapy! During that year, I got rid of many of my clothes as I realized I wasn’t wearing very many things at all. When I got rid of items that still had tags I was horrified to realize I had bought for the pleasure of buying (very short lived!) and not because I needed the item or that it even looked particularly good on me.
I am still getting rid of clothes (yes, I had A LOT!) and do minimal shopping. In fact, I only shop once an item has truly worn out i.e. can no longer be repaired or re-made into something else.
Life is way less stressful and I am reconnecting with me.
kim domingue says
I just had this conversation with my plumber today. We bought our my brother in-law’s share of my husband’s childhood home. Our children are living in it currently. Well, the 35 year old dishwasher at that house finally died. I have a dishwasher in my house that I never use and told my daughter we’d just move mine over there and get the plumber to come hook it up. Normally we do that sort of thing ourselves but old house/old pipes/old wiring/ new 2 year old disher….. I’m not stupid, lol! I called an expert.
As he was working on it, we chatted. I asked him if they had some young guys that they were training to take over ( he and I are both in our mid 50s). He said that despite what repairmen earn, that they can’t get younger people to come learn the trade. He said that he feels like we’re seeing the last of the a dying breed…… people don’t want to fix things any more, just buy a new one and the upcoming generations don’t want to learn a trade that requires them to get dirty and use their hands.
Sad.
Want to freak someone out? Pull out a darning egg and start darning the hole in a favorite pair of socks while you’re talking with them. The look on people’s faces is absolutely priceless!
Mary McGarvey says
That darning egg story? I was in a youth hostel in Grindelwald, Switzerland in November 1982.
I saw a girl with ginger hair intensely darning her sock, which astounded me. She then eventually started talking to a
Much older man in a very strange language I couldn’t identify. Later she was in the shower room and we started chatting. She was from Finland and hitchhiking on her own. So was I. We decided to team up and see how it goes.
It went very well. We traveled all over Europe for months and went down to Israel and Turkey, and yet even another trip together years later, in 1990, to China and Japan.
I can honestly say it all started when her sock-darning caught my eye…. she was different! Thrifty ! We are still friends and write by email. She finally settled in her home country with a real Finn. That was after trying a bunch of foreigners first ha ha.
Laurie Malloy says
Thanks for sharing these stats. I’m posting this on my work FB page-Simple Spaces NWA. As a minimalist myself & being a coach/speaker/organizer my mission is to let people see that they can enjoy their life w/o all the stuff!