Are YOU a shopping ‘bulimic’?
The rise of online shopping during lockdown has been wonderful for retail… but what about those with shopping addictions?
Are you a shopping ‘bulimic’?
In the midst of the doom and gloom of lockdown, one sector has thrived: online shopping. According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), online shopping reached a record high of 22.3 per cent of all retail purchases in the month of March 2020 and accounted for 62 per cent of all shopping during lockdown. Great news for the flagging retail sector!
But for many of those with already-existing shopping addictions, lockdown amplified the problem. According to a study published in Comprehensive Psychiatry,
33.6 per cent of people showed signs of addiction to online shopping. Now,
experts are talking about a new phenomenon – shopping ‘bulimia.’
This isn’t like shopping addiction, where the consumer cannot stop buying. Shopping bulimia is where the customer buys things, feels guilty and then returns them.
Research by Barclaycard found that 30 per cent of shoppers deliberately overpurchase and return items.
But now experts say that the pandemic – with the inability to try things on, the lack of seeing the item in the flesh, and not having to physically hand over ‘real’ money – is making shopping bulimia more common, especially in women.
Angela Garvin, 48, from Romford, Essex, is one such person. She was once a ‘high-end’ shopper, spending thousands on designer handbags and shoes. But this all stopped when she moved her elderly mother in with her.
‘I had more important things to think about,’ she says. ‘Then Coronavirus and lockdown happened.’ Angela was furloughed from her legal secretary job in March and suddenly spent all her time at home.
‘Instead of commuting to the office, I had hours ahead of me each day. I started browsing websites…’
Angela found herself falling back into her old ways. She perused clothes shops like ASOS, Marks & Spencer and John Lewis. ‘I found browsing the websites therapeutic,’ she says. ‘I couldn’t get to the shop to try stuff on, but technology has come so far. You can see a garment from all angles, view it at 360 degrees. I found the searching really relaxing during a time of great stress.’
Angela began buying things – a new shirt here, a pair of trousers there. But then she found herself shopping more and more.
‘I would start the day with a clothes website,’ she says. ‘If I liked a shirt, I bought it in three different sizes and six colours – after all, I wasn’t allowed to shop and try it on. I then started buying things for the house – cushions, accessories, candles, throws and duvets. I was spending so much more time at home, I wanted it to look lovely.’
Suzy Reading, psychologist and author of Self-Care for Tough Times, says that lockdown made shopping addictions worse. ‘During lockdown, most things we usually did to cope with anxiety became unavailable so our anxiety was heightened. In the absence of coping mechanisms, many people turned to crutches such as shopping. But these are not nourishing activities, they simply numb us.’
Every few days, the postman or delivery driver would arrive at Angela’s home with another package.
‘The thrill of the doorbell ringing made my pulse race,’ she recalls. ‘It was like a drug. I’d then tear open the package and find six of the same shirt, or three of the same pairs of trousers.’
But as she stuffed things in her wardrobe, the high would subside. ‘At first it was just things that were too small or too big. But then I started feeling guilty. I didn’t really need another blouse. Or another black pair of trousers. My bank balance was depleting. Sending things back is easy, so I sent back anything I’d changed my mind about. It also meant I didn’t feel guilty: yes, I’d spent a lot of money, but if I was sending half of it back it wasn’t so bad.’
Suzy says that this feeling of guilt or shame is mirrored in many other addictions including alcohol addiction or binge-eating. ‘In this case, when the shopper finds the item or pays, the brain releases dopamine which makes them feel high,’ she says. ‘But, when they realise they never needed the item or realise they’ve spent money they don’t have, there is a feeling of self-loathing.’
Angela believes she has paid out between £5,000-£8,000 since the start of lockdown on clothes and home accessories. She estimates that, with the amount of clothes she has sent back, she’s probably actually spent around £5,000.
‘I’m trying to stop myself shopping online but, as I’m still working at home, I can’t. The most thrilling thing is the hunt – the searching online, scouring the websites. Once I press “pay now” my adrenalin goes down until the package arrives. Then the cycle starts again.’
Suzy Reading says: ‘People with shopping bulimia need to understand is that it is not a nourishing act. It may feel good in the moment but it is not self-care. We live in a society where we are encouraged to buy things to feel better. But it doesn’t work.’