Impulse Buying Statistics (2024): Consumer Spending Habits

Highlights. 73% of Americans say the majority of their purchases are unplanned.

Most shoppers (89%) have some history of impulse buying; 54% have spent $100 or more on an impulse buy.
80% of consumers shop impulsively in brick-and-mortar stores while impulse buying accounts for around 40% of e-commerce.
72% of online shoppers have impulsively bought an item due to an advertised discount.
The average consumer spends $281.75 per month on impulse buys in 2024 for a projected total of $3,381.
Also in 2024, the average consumer makes 9.75 impulse buys per month for an average of $28.90 each.

Bar Graph: Consumer Impulse Buying by Retail Category according to PR Newswire

Impulse Buying Sales Statistics

The 2020s began with a sharp rise in consumer impulse buying with a market correction in 2023.

67% of all consumers have impulsively bought an item because it was on sale.
58% of consumers only impulse buy items on sale.
In 2022, the average consumer spent $314 per month ($3,768 annually) on impulse buying.
From 2022 to 2023, impulse buying declined 51.9% to $151 per month ($1,812 annually).
Among the 89% of shoppers who impulse buy, 60.7% have impulsively spent $100 or more at least once.
Impulse shoppers spent an estimated $71 billion over 12 months in 2022.
20% of consumers (22.5% of impulse shoppers) have spent $1,000 or more on an impulse buy.
19% of consumers (21.3% of impulse shoppers) spent more than $100 on their most recent impulse purchases.
8.99% of impulse shoppers are unsure how much they spent on their last purchase.

Line Graph: Average Annual Impulse Spending from 2020 ($2,196) to 2023 ($1,812) with projections from 2024 ($3,381) to 2030 ($3,040) according to PR Newswire and CNBC

Impulse Buying Consumer Statistics

While most shoppers impulse buy once in a while, sales events and pricing psychology may influence consumers’ impulse buying habits.

The average consumer makes six (6) impulse purchases per month.
Impulse buying is most common when clothes shopping (55% of consumers).
Consumers are also likely to impulse buy while shopping for groceries (50%) and household items (42%).
Impulse buying accounts for up to 62% of grocery sales revenue (and up to 80% in some product categories).
39% of consumers are more likely to impulse buy when shopping for necessities.
36% of consumers don’t plan (i.e., impulse buy) most of their purchases.
Some consumers (35%) say their impulse purchases are driven by popular trends.
19% of consumers are more likely to impulse buy luxury items.
47% of consumers make impulse buys for themselves.
21% of consumers impulse buy for a child while 16% buy for their spouse or significant other.

Line Graph: Average Number of Impulse Purchases per consumer, per year from 2020 (108) to 2023 (72) with projections from 2024 (117) to 2030 (111) according to PR Newswire and CNBC

Impulse Buying Consumer Demographics

All demographic groups demonstrate a common habit of impulse buying.

Worldwide, 57% of women have impulsively bought clothes or shoes.
49% of male consumers have impulsively purchased electronics.
Toys, games, or books are the second-most popular retail categories for impulse buys among men (44%) and women (38%).
Men and women are about equally as likely to impulse buy home, furniture, or garden products (23% and 24%, respectively).
48% of female shoppers and 54% of males never regret their impulse buys.
18- to 24-year-olds make up to 49% of their purchases on impulse.
25- to 34-year-old consumers buy on impulse 46% of the time.
Consumers aged 35 to 44 years buy impulsively 43% of the time.
45- to 64-year-olds make 41% of their purchases on impulse.
Consumers aged 65 and older make 35% of purchases on impulse.

Bar Graph: Annual Social Media Impulse Spending by Generation according to Bankrate

A significant share of impulse buying happens on social media, and many consumers (43%) report that they are most likely to make impulsive buys while shopping in bed.

48% of social media users have impulsively bought an item they first saw on a social media feed.
55% of TikTok users make impulse buys on the social media app.
46% of Instagram users and 45% of Facebook users log in to impulse buy.
43% of Twitter users impulsively buy items advertised via tweet.
$754 is the mean annual spending on social media impulse buys.
70% of impulsive shoppers on social media spent $100 or more in a year.
26% of impulsive shoppers on social media spent $500 or more in a year.
61% of consumers born between 1981 and 1996 (often referred to as Millennials) have impulsively bought an item they first saw on social media.
Social media ads have driven 60% of consumers born between 1997 and 2012 (also called Generation Z) to make impulsive purchases.
42% of consumers born from 1965 to 1980 (a.k.a. Generation X) have used social media for impulse buying.
34% of shoppers born from 1946 to 1964 (Baby Boomers) have made at least one impulsive purchase on social media.

Line Graph: Average Spend Per Impulse Buy fro 2020 ($20.33) to 2023 ($25.17) according to PR Newswire and CNBC with projections from 2024 ($28.90) to 2030 ($27.34)

Impulse Buying Holiday Statistics

Most holidays include retail sales events, and sales appear to increase incidents of impulse buying.

25% of winter holiday shoppers impulsively spend $100 or more.
46% of shoppers on Black Friday make at least one impulse buy.
71% of consumers shopping for sporting goods on Black Friday make an impulse buy.
84% of Black Friday shoppers aged 18 to 29 make impulse purchases.
76% of 30- to 59-year-olds shopping on Black Friday make impulse buys.
Impulse buying is lowest (60%) among consumers aged 60 years and older.

The Capital One Shopping team compiled these data and insights based on publicly available data.

Impulse Buying Statistics

Impulse Buying Sales Statistics

Impulse Buying Consumer Statistics

Impulse Buying Consumer Demographics

Impulse Buying Social Media Statistics

Impulse Buying Holiday Statistics

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