What is a shopping addiction?

Normal Shopping vs. Shopping Addiction

So what is the difference between normal shopping, occasional splurges, and shopping addiction? As with all addictions, what sets shopping addiction apart from other types of shopping is that the behavior becomes the person’s main way of coping with stress.People will continue to shop excessively even when it is hurting other areas of their life.


Shopping Addiction

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  Purchased items are often not needed or used
  
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  Compulsive shopping behavior
  
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  Creates financial problems for the individual
  
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  Constant overbuying
  

Normal Shopping

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  Purchased items are needed and used
  
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  No sense of compulsion
  
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  Does not cause financial distress
  
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  Occasional splurges
  

As with other addictions, money problems can develop and relationships can become damaged, yet people with shopping addiction (sometimes called "shopaholics") feel unable to stop or even control their spending.


Online shopping addiction is a form of internet addiction, and people with social anxiety are particularly vulnerable to developing this type, as it does not require any face-to-face contact. Like other cyber addictions, it feels anonymous.

Compulsive vs. Impulsive Shopping

Impulse buying is an unplanned purchase that happens on the spur of the moment in reaction to the immediate desire to have something you see in a shop. Impulse buying is a little different from compulsive buying, which is typically more pre-planned as a way of escaping negative feelings. But again, people with shopping addiction may engage in both types of addictive buying.