Shopping And Drinking – A Great Combination For Retailers

The New York Times did an interesting piece this week, “Online Merchants Home in On Imbibing Consumers“. Seems shopping after a couple of drinks lessens inhibitions and opens wallets that might otherwise be tightly shut.

“Post-bar, inhibitions can be impacted, and that can cause shopping, and hopefully healthy impulse buying,” said Andy Page, the president of Gilt Groupe, an online retailer that is adding more sales starting at 9 p.m. to respond to high traffic then — perhaps some of it by shoppers under the influence.

After enjoying a few drinks, for some, it’s time to shop online. On eBay, the busiest time of day is from 6:30 to 10:30 in each time zone. ChannelAdvisor, which runs e-commerce for hundreds of sites, says its order volumes peak about 8 p.m., and that shoppers are placing orders later and later: in 2011, the number of orders placed from 9 to midnight increased compared with previous years.

With more sites mobile enabled, online shopping becomes even easier for any time of day shopping – even from the back of a cab.

While hard statistics are difficult to come by, this is a trend that merchants cannot afford to ignore. Evening promotions and specials are quite likely to gain traction among “relaxing” consumers. It goes without saying that those sites that are easy to navigate, simple to buy from and with great product that’s well-priced will succeed in wooing the tipsy crowd.

Perhaps right now is the time to reevaluate your e-commerce navigation and check out. You might even want to do it with some friends after a couple of drinks so the “focus” group reflects your new target audience.