Retail Therapy

Black Friday is the Super Bowl of Shopping, a day of mass marketing, consumer hysteria and primal shopping.  The excesses and indulgences of the dining room table only hours earlier now move into the public arena.
The National Retail Federation predicts that the average consumer will spend $750 this year, $10 more than last year or a collective amount of nearly $600 billion.  Broken down, this equates to $420 on family, $75 on friends, $30 on pets and $25 on coworkers.  The rest goes toward food ($100), decorations ($50), greeting cards ($30) and flowers ($20).  Not included in this are $140 in gifts that 60% of all shoppers will buy for themselves.
If you don’t like the early holiday displays at stores, you might not be one of the nearly 80% of all Americans that have already begun shopping for the holidays with 40% having started way back in October.
For the first time ever, more that half of all Americans will shop for and buy gifts online.  This coincides with the increased use of smartphones and tablets in the shopping process.  One-third of shoppers will use their smartphones to compare prices while in the store.   One-quarter of shoppers will use their phones or tablets to find store locations, hours and directions.  Twenty percent of tablet users will redeem coupons online.
Can you guess what tops most gift lists?  Sixty percent of all Americans say gift cards!  When specifying types of gifts, 50% want clothing, 46% want a CD/DVD or video game, 36% electronics and 24% jewelry.
Economic problems appear to be moderating as 52% of Americans will have their holiday gifting plans negatively impacted by their financial condition, down from 62% last year.  Of all Americans, 65% will shop at discount stores, 58% at department stores, 36% at clothing stores and 32% at electronics stores.
For all of the excitement of the shopping season, there is a serious downside to this as well.  For some, the euphoric rush created by shopping comes at the expense personal relationships. It is estimated that one in ten Americans are compulsive shoppers – double rates seen fifteen years ago.
Kent Monroe, a marketing professor at the University of Illinois states that compulsive buying is linked to a loss of self esteem, depression, anxiety  and stress.  While compulsive shoppers felt good when they were shopping, they tended to hide purchases from their spouse and had more family arguments over money.  “Compulsive buying is an addiction that can be harmful to the individual, families, relationships,” states Monroe.
James Roberts of Baylor University agrees that for some people their, “natural response to bad feelings or bad events” is to “go shopping as a kind of retail therapy.”
Compulsive shoppers “suffer a lot because of the emotional drain of being in debt,” says Lorrin Koran, a psychiatrist at Stanford University. “It can cause a lot of suffering and family dysfunction.”
The good news is that this type of impulse control disorder is treatable with a combination of psychiatric counseling, behavior modification, anti-depressants and other mood stabilizes.
Whether you are a shopaholic or not, step back for a moment and reflect on the true meaning of the holiday season as it has nothing to do with the materialism or consumption.  It is or should be about peace on Earth, goodwill toward men and an acknowledgement toward those you care about that they are special to you.
With that said, I’m rushing out to get that $148, 32” television that is on sale for only one hour at midnight.