Member Article

A fifth of UK shoppers have bought out of social awkwardness

A fifth (21%) of UK consumers have bought an item from a shop assistant due to ‘social awkwardness’ — often making purchases simply to avoid saying no or having an uncomfortable conversation with retail staff. That’s according to a new ‘Stress Shopping’ research report from experience analytics platform Clicktale, examining the different emotions that drive people to shop.

The research, which surveyed over 1,000 UK shoppers, also found that 83% are annoyed by in-store assistants, while 79% are stressed out by assistants making recommendations for products they would never buy. Interestingly, this annoyance also translates online, with 65% of shoppers saying they feel stressed as a result of unhelpful product recommendations on ecommerce sites and mobile applications.

In addition to shopping out of social awkwardness, Clicktale’s research also suggests that consumers are influenced by a surprising range of emotional cues and feelings when deciding to shop. Of those surveyed, 46% admit to shopping to distract themselves from hunger, 74% make purchases because they’re feeling stressed, and 58% buy because they’re bored.

Commenting on these findings, Geoff Galat, CMO of Clicktale said, “We’ve all been browsing in a store and found ourselves exposed to unhelpful and interjecting shop assistants. What’s worrying is that these unwelcome practices have become commonplace online.

“The whole point of online shopping is that it’s meant to be stress-free. Now, we are seeing evidence that ecommerce sites and apps are actually making consumers more, rather than less, stressed. To fix this, retailers and brands need to work much harder to pick up on and address the ‘micro-stressors’ throughout their sites and apps – ensuring that consumers have a stress-free shopping experience and are kept in a positive buying mindset.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Geoff Galat .