One in three consumers shop online between the unsociable hours of midnight and 4am, new research from charitable shopping platform Give as you Live has revealed.
The most likely age group to shop late at night are aged between 35 and 44 – the bracket identified by the ONS as likely to have young children.
According to transaction data from Give as you Live, the small hours of Saturday are the most popular period for an after-hours online purchase.
People aged 35-44 are the keenest late-night shoppers, with 41% of this age group claiming to log on for late-night purchases.
Younger people aged 18-24, and those over 55, are the least likely late-night shoppers with 77% and 83% respectively saying they have never engaged in shopping after midnight.
As for why people are shopping late at night; 70% of those that shopped between midnight and 4am said it was because they couldn’t sleep.
Close to one in ten (8%) said they shopped in the early hours because they had been drinking alcohol, and a further 5% were woken up by children so went online to shop.
“With a third of us admitting to shopping in the early hours, retailers need to ensure there is enough support for their customers outside the usual 9-to-5 working day," said Steff Lewis from Give as you Live.
Retailers must also realise that their late night customers won’t be in the same mind-set as those shopping during the day, she added.
“Our research found that the majority of late night shoppers were doing so because they couldn’t sleep, meaning that they are less patient and more prone to browsing.”
© 2014 - European Supermarket Magazine
