Social media triggers our tendencies to buy online

CONVENIENCE and seductive social media sites are resulting in shoppers wasting money by making impulse online purchases.

Christmas is five weeks away and retailers are hoping shoppers will be spending up.

But independent analysis commissioned by St George Bank found many consumers were making snap purchases that was harming hip pockets.

The data, which surveyed 1000 Australians, found six in 10 said social media sites, including Instagram and Facebook, had taken their toll — 66 per cent said it was encouraging them to spend.

And enticing emails from retailers has turned into big business — 47 per cent of shoppers saying they were enticed by email offers.

St George Bank general manager Ross Miller said the boom in online shopping was driven by shoppers spending with ease, even while under the nose of their employers.

“It’s becoming a driving force in draining your bank account,” Mr Miller said.

“Two in 10 respondents said they were shopping at work and half of those were shopping in their lunch hour, it’s just so convenient you can do it at meetings during work.”

And evenings is the peak time to shop with nine out 10 shoppers placing online orders.

But 22 per cent of shoppers are early birds, shopping online as soon as they wake up.

Recent discounting days, including Click Frenzy and Black Friday, are among the busiest shopping periods in the lead up to Christmas.

The data also found 33 per cent of shoppers are ordering items via their mobile phone, 50 per cent via their computer and 11 per cent using a tablet.

Consumer finance expert Lisa Montgomery said cookies meant retailers could follow consumers’ moves and target them with deals.

“When it’s front of mind to you it’s means you are going to be more vulnerable to that purchase because it’s in your face,” Ms Montgomery said.