• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, June 28, 2023

Buyer’s remorse is fairly common among shoppers, especially when they are confronted with deals too good to pass up.

While there are many different reasons people feel buyer’s remorse, 48% cited guilt for buying gifts for themselves, and 42% cited impulsivity.

Buyer’s remorse causes 75% of people to feel at least a little upset, and 40% of people experience guilt for up to a week.

To better understand this phenomenon, Google conducted a survey with Ipsos. Here's what they found.

The survey of more than 1,000 adult consumers in North America was conducted to determine their shopping habits and experiences with that familiar feeling of guilt that sometimes goes hand-in-hand with certain purchases.

The new findings from the poll found most consumers shop at least once a month, if not more, with many searching for deals and discounts. The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, an online probability-based panel representative of the adult U.S. population. 

Nine out of ten consumers in the survey said they have experienced buyer’s remorse at least some of the time with impulse purchases, and 42% say they have bought something because it was on sale and then later regretted it. Among people who regret a purchase, 62% said they regret the purchase because they don't really need it.

Some 34% of consumers said they have too much stuff already, while 19% said they found the purchase at a lower price, 17% didn’t do proper research, and 13% said they didn’t spend the time to compare prices from other stores.

Still, 53% said being able to do price comparisons across retailer and brands may help prevent buyer’s remorse, and 47% felt that way about properly researching products.

The survey also found 43% of participants search for deals when shopping online. Few view discounts that are less than 10% off as a good deal. Most view anywhere from 10 to 29% off and 30 to 49% off as discounts that qualify as a good deal.

About 49% will wait at least a month or longer to purchase a nonessential item if they know they can get it on sale at a later day. Among these, 18% wait until the holiday shopping days to make a deal. Unsurprisingly, 60% say they plan their purchases when shopping on retailers deal days.

Google also published a post with tips and tools for reducing buyer’s remorse including tips on how to find the best prices, such as using the price insights feature, virtual try-on tool, and compare prices.