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A third of Brits are late night shoppers, browsing online stores in the small hours of the morning, a new report has claimed.
30 per cent of those surveyed by charitable shopping platform Give As You Live admitted that they shop online between midnight and 4am.
The report added that the early hours of Saturday was the most popular period for an after-hours purchase, with one in 20 purchases recorded during 2013 conducted during the timeframe.
It also seems that the night belongs to the middle-aged, with people aged 35 to 44 found to be the keenest late night shoppers – with two fifths (41 per cent) of the age group logging on for late-night purchases.
Those aged 18 to 24 and those over 55 were instead found to be the least likely late-night shoppers, with 77 per cent and 83 per cent respectively saying they had never engaged in shopping after midnight.
Out of those questioned, the majority (70 per cent) of those that shopped between midnight and 4am said it was because they couldn’t sleep.
Almost one in ten (eight per cent) said they shopped in the early hours because they were under the influence of alcohol, and a further five per cent were spurred into shopping online after their children woke them up.
“The web has given us the freedom to shop at whenever and wherever we choose,” commented Steff Lewis from Give As You Live.
“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 nine to five working day.
“Retailers must also realise that their late night customers won’t be in the same mind-set as those shopping during the day.
“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.”
Image of late-night computer user courtesy of Shutterstock.co.uk
