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.
Carmen says
As a woman and mom who believes in cooking from scratch, number fourteen alarms me for the families of the next generation.
Ten Factorial Rocks says
Crazy stats, Joshua. Thanks for compiling them together. This explains why the American retirement crisis is real as I covered in one of my articles.
Mrs. Picky Pincher says
I completely agree that our shopping habit is out of control. But are there stats available for men’s shopping habits? I see that many of these stats place the onus on women; I know men overshop and overspend as well, and I’d like to see that impact, too.
I used to be a hooooorrible impulse shopper in college. I wasted thousands of dollars on products that I never even used–it was ridiculous! I eventually had to lock up all of my cards and switch to a cash-only envelope system (a la Dave Ramsey).
That finally did the trick, but ultimately real change came from shifting my attitude towards consumption. “Do I need this item to survive? How will I feel about this item in five years? Could the money spent on this item be better spent elsewhere?”
Rachel Meyer says
Interesting. A few of these are pitiful – not $500 in savings but $4000 in debt?
But, to be fair, people of every other age would be amazed that we can acquire everything we physically need for life in about 1 hour per day. Getting food, clothing, bedding for a family etc has historically taken much more, from hunter-gatherer to walking to the market and visiting several vendors. I’d be interested in how much time those in less prosperous countries spend on the same goals.
Sharon C says
Thanks much for the eye-opening post! While I do not consider myself a shopper for retail therapy, I realize I spend a lot of time finding the best deal both online and in stores, and in the process end up looking at many other things to consider buying, and also waste time time and resources buying and returning. Will think through more next time I need to purchase something.
John P. Weiss says
When my father passed away many years ago, I spent a great deal of time sorting and selling all his stuff. A garage full. I notice many stuffed garages where I live. I ended up selling/donating my own clutter and changing habits. Less truly is more for me. Minimalism is not pauperism and I buy quality products when I need them, but I have found freedom overall in simplifying!
Tim Sliedrecht says
I shared this article on Facebook with the comment “Wow… according to these statistics, shopping is more than just a sport… it’s a religion!” and got the following reply from someone: “Why do you think you can criticize how others spend their money? Some spend on cable tv, some on wine, some on clothes, some on movies or plays. What makes you the judge?”
How should I respond?
Tracy says
You didn’t criticize anyone. You’re just sharing an article, not giving commentary on a particular person.
(My goodness, methinks they doth protest too much!)
Tim Sliedrecht says
I shared this article on Facebook and got the following reply from someone: “Why do you think you can criticize how others spend their money? Some spend on cable tv, some on wine, some on clothes, some on movies or plays. What makes you the judge?”
How should I respond?
Smanda says
Seems like you could have presented these stats without calling out women twice. Or at least acknowledging that many of them are spending that time shopping for their partners and children. Most time spent shopping isn’t fun: most of it is finding the right color poster board for your kid’s science project, buying your husband socks when he suddenly tells he ran out, or buying groceries for the 3rd time that week because your house is plagued with teenagers.
Sparty says
get a grip – teen’s are wonderful and it’s the last age you will hear the complete truth – parental involvement in science projects inhibits the very ingenuity we hope to unlock. Carry their athletic gear from car to field or rink? Mars and Venus are different.
Tracy says
I had to reread these to find where he “called out women twice.” These are the statistics. Look around next time you’re out.
By the way – your husband can buy his own socks, he’s a big boy ;-) and you can send your teens to the store if they eat too much. They’ll acclimate to whatever you do for them – if they eat all the frozen pizzas and burritos in the freezer, then they can eat PB&J until you go to the grocery store next week. If you go running to the store every time they whine, they’ll continue to whine because you do whatever they want.
It’s not helping them to buy them whatever they want whenever they want it.
joshua becker says
Thanks for the comment Smanda. I was calling out everybody in this post.
meghan says
whenever i engaged in “retail therapy” before having kids, i always came home exhausted with little to show. often, we would just go to look and end up buying things (mostly cheap clothes) that we didn’t necessarily need. the stores were so overwhelming…too much advertising, so much clutter, way too many options…that i’d leave with a headache and feel fatigued. it physically exhausts me to shop in our typical u.s. retail shops.
thinking of consuming in terms of minimalism makes shopping even more unpleasant knowing of the wasted time, money, effort, etc. i so appreciate the new perspective shopping takes on as i move forward in this life!
Susan solomon says
I hear you. I always ended up with a headache. Now that I am in my seventies and no longer need much I give away as much as I can. The house is neater, easier to clean, and the closet is organized. I no longer even enter stores I used to visit because I used to buy clothes and wasn’t always happy with my choices.