Stress spending wave keeping Walton Wood Farm extra busy

E-commerce sales orders have been up nearly 300 per cent for the ‘candy store of hand cream’

BAILIEBORO — Walton Wood Farm has been filling non-stop orders for personal-care products with names like “Week From Hell” and “Nurse’s Rescue” to people battling the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two weeks after the lockdown set in, “We took off like a freight train,” said owner Leslie Bradford-Scott, co-owner of the Bailieboro company.

E-commerce sales to consumers — primarily GTA residents — have jumped 300 per cent, she said.

In one instance, two months’ worth of products geared to front-line workers, such as $18 hand cream and $13 shower therapy, sold out in six hours.

“We’re like the candy store of hand cream,” said BradfordScott, whose own experience as a stressed-out solo parent spawned her startup six years ago.

She observes that the average pre-pandemic order was $59; now it’s $89. While people often buy stuff for their entire households, including kids and dogs, many purchases aren’t intended for self-pampering, she says.

“There’s a lot of gifting going on. You feel good when you give something that’s creating an emotional connection.”

One shopper bought $2,000 worth of lip balm for nurses and “gave it all to one hospital,” Bradford-Scott said. Another splurged on $800 worth of “Week From Hell” products.

The early days of the outbreak and self-isolation saw a wave of spending sprees, according to a Credit Karma survey. More than a third of respondents said they’d made an impulse purchase because they felt anxious or stressed. Of those, nearly half said they were stress-spending at least once a week. Ten per cent had gone more than $1,000 over their budgets since sheltering in place.

Even the affluent — or perhaps especially the affluent — are indulging if online jewelry sales are anything to go by. Strong results this spring, reported by Sotheby’s and Christie’s auction houses, included a record-setting $1.34 million for a vintage Cartier bracelet sold by Sotheby’s.

The why behind the buy is often easily explained by the experts. Just the anticipation of a reward causes a dopamine spike that helps spark pleasure, U.S. neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky discovered years ago.

And as Rice University marketing professor Utpal Dholakia puts it: “Shopping offers a perfect avenue” to relieve anxiety or stress — “or at least divert our minds temporarily.”

Researchers call this “mood repair,” he stated in an email from Houston, Texas. But the short-term boost may be “counterbalanced by harmful longer-term effects for many people,” Dholakia cautions.

Impulse shopping can affect personal finances, create conflict with partners and family members and, in severe cases, even lead to compulsive shopping and hoarding, he says.

Extreme behaviours aside, Credit Karma’s Ken Lin isn’t surprised “that people are spending more money to cope with stress. Retail therapy is a real thing no matter who you are or where you live.”

Lin, CEO and founder of the personal finance website, says shopping can offer a two-forone benefit by making you feel better and more in control.

“That sense of control is super valuable, especially during a pandemic.”

But continuing to spend money you don’t have as a way of coping can be “dangerous,” especially if you rack up additional fees and interest on credit cards, he warns.

“When you can, pay with cash or debit.”

Another financial pitfall associated with stress-spending is neglecting to put money into savings: “You could find yourself in a tough position when it comes time to pay for an unexpected bill or emergency.”

Lin advocates the “24-hour rule” wherein you “sleep on it” before buying something nonessential. If, after a day, you still think it’s worthwhile, “it’s less of an impulse buy.”

And he’s not about to throw cold water on purchases. “If you have the extra cash … it’s OK to occasionally spend money on non-essential items.”