Drunk shoppers on average spend more than $400 per year on items purchased while intoxicated, equivalent to an over $48 billion industry, and Amazon is apparently the biggest beneficiary.
A survey carried out by The Hustle revealed that waking up with a hangover plus a confirmation receipt for a purchase while drunk is actually a pretty common thing in the United States. More than 2,000 alcohol-imbibing American adults participated in the survey, which revealed several interesting tidbits about drunk shoppers.
Out of the 2,174 participants, 79 percent said that they have made at least one drunken purchase, with The Hustle providing a story about a man named Ryan Green as an example. Green, who was drunk while watching Justin Timberlake perform at the 2018 Super Bowl halftime show, purchased two tickets worth $165 each to watch a Timberlake concert. He woke up the next day to find a confirmation email of a purchase that he did not remember.
The survey also found that, on average, its respondents spend $444 per year on drunk purchases. There are about 138 million alcohol drinkers in the United States, and applying the numbers that 79 percent have been drunk shoppers and spend an average of $444 per year, the booze-fueled buying market turns out be worth as much as about $48.4 billion per year.
Where does all that money go? Apparently, Amazon is the go-to place for drunk shoppers, with 85 percent of them buying products from Amazon while under the influence. Coming in a distant second is eBay at 21 percent and Etsy at 12 percent. With an easy-to-use mobile app, a massive inventory, and the many benefits of an Amazon Prime subscription, it makes sense that drunk people will buy stuff off of Amazon to surprise themselves the following day.
Another interesting tidbit from the survey is that people in the fashion industry spend the most on drunk purchases, at an average of $949 per year, followed by people in the writing, medicine, fitness, and life coaching sectors. This follows the results for what drunk shoppers buy, with 66 percent saying that they bought clothes — the top item on the rankings. Movies, games, tech products, and food round out the top five drunk purchases.
