Online shopping is a slippery slope that’s easy to fall victim to and even harder to climb your way out of. With today’s social media, and advancing advertising strategies, the temptation is becoming harder to avoid. Merely talking about wanting a new pair of leggings will result in countless ads popping up throughout your Instagram, Facebook and other social media. Online shopping is also perpetuated by the ease of clicking “purchase” and the hassle of returning the items. One of the reasons online shopping is so attractive is the convenience, and heading to a post office to return what you bought is not convenient.
Now that we are all stuck at home during this COVID-19 quarantine, it is becoming even harder to avoid online shopping! It can be a thrill to order something online and wait for the package to arrive. According to this article, “50% of Chinese shoppers, 55% of Indian shoppers and 31% of Italian shoppers say they are using ecommerce more frequently as of March 15, 2020.” If you are looking to end your online shopping habits, I challenge you to practice the methods below before purchasing your next items online!
Sleep on it
This advice is the holy grail of advice and it pops up across many different situations. It is so simple, yet so powerful for us to realize that we do not have to act immediately. Our culture is accustomed to having instant gratification, so it is important for us to take a step back and re-evaluate situations before we act on them. This principle can also be applied to online shopping!
I am shocked at how many of my friends order things online and are puzzled when they arrive a week later since the order slips their mind. If you truly NEED something, you will not forget about waiting for it. That is why I advise “window shopping” and leaving the items in your cart for at least one night before committing to that purchase. If you wake up the next morning and realize you truly need those items, then they pass the test. Otherwise the desire was fleeting and not worth pursuing. In fact, in 2019, 77.13% of online shopping carts were abandoned (you can read more about that ecommerce statistic here). Filling up your cart but then waiting to purchase is a powerful way to spend less money.
One for One method
This is one of my favorite methods to avoid purchasing unnecessary items. I have been using this method for years and it works wonders. It allows me to keep my wardrobe organized and not overflowing with clothes I forget about. (I’m not perfect though, I still have a lot of items I can’t seem to let go of for sentimental reasons… it’s a process).
The way the “One for One” method works is, in order to purchase something, I have to first sell or donate another item from my closet! So if I am looking for a new dress, I have to comb through my closet and decide on what item I can part with. This is helpful because it forces me to dig through the nooks and crannies of my closet and sometimes I discover clothes I forgot about! During this process, you will either realize you have more clothes than you remembered, therefore causing you to delay your shopping, you will be able to make some money back by selling an item, or you will score some good karma for donating your item. This method has worked very well for me over the years, and allows me to have a limited clothing budget. Not only does this help with online shopping, but with in-person shopping as well.
Reflect on how much time you spend online shopping
How often do you shop online? This article states that 62% of Americans shop online at least once a month. There are a number of online tools you can utilize to track your browser history (Check out the Web Tracker Chrome extension or other versions of the tool). This will allow you to confront how much time you spend on retail therapy throughout the week. Now that you know how often you visit these websites, you can set time limits for your online shopping.
review your budget
Set a monthly shopping budget and make sure to review your spending before you shop. Since online shopping is done through credit cards and debit cards, it is easy to dismiss the gravity of the amount of money you’re spending. Next time you’re at a computer, I would urge you to step back and check your debit account, review your monthly spending, and calculate whether you still have a shopping budget left. I will be writing a blog post about budgeting in the future, so please be sure to sign up for my newsletter so you can learn my best tips!
Learn about fast fashion
I am a huge believer that if we understand the consequences of our actions, we will approach situations differently. Many of us do not realize the effects of our online shopping on the environment. If we changed our mindset and researched “fast fashion” I think we would all be more eager to thrift and repurpose old items, which would not only benefit the world but also our bank accounts! According to this article , “The fashion industry emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined.” If you sit back and think about the detrimental consequences of each item you purchase, you will most likely start curbing your desire to shop.
The ease of online shopping contributes to the culture of fast fashion and is affecting our environment more than we realize. This is evident in the following appalling statistic, “A single t-shirt takes 2,700 liters of water to make. The same amount of water an average person drinks over the course of 900 days.” Let that sink in… 900 days worth of drinking water is being used to make one shirt! Perhaps this mindset shift will help you limit your online shopping! And if you really need to purchase clothes, I urge you to check out secondhand items on thredUp, an online thrift store!
I would love to hear from those of you who try these methods- do they help you with your urges to shop online? If you have any other suggestions, please comment below and I will be happy to write another blog post about this in the future! Being cooped up at home during this quarantine can certainly make it harder to avoid online shopping, but I urge you all to try the five methods I discussed and stop wasting money on fast fashion!