You Won't Believe How Much Americans Spend on Drunk Online Shopping

For most of us, there's nothing wrong with the responsible consumption of the occasional adult beverage or several, but there are some things which -- while not illegal -- the inebriated should not do. Calling an ex is an obvious example. But depending on what your portfolio looks like, you may have different views on whether the surprisingly common practice of buying online while under the influence is a good thing.

In this segment of the Motley Fool Money podcast, host Chris Hill and Fool senior analysts Aaron Bush, Ron Gross, and Jason Moser review a recent study that says nearly 80% or Americans who do drink have made purchases from e-commerce sites while drunk, and consider the ramifications of that spending.

A full transcript follows the video.

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This video was recorded on March 29, 2019.

Chris Hill: The ability to shop online means you can buy just about anything you want without leaving your home. But, as Uncle Ben Parker warned his nephew Peter, with great power comes great responsibility.

Ron Gross: [laughs] Nice.

Hill: An online survey of nearly 2,200 alcohol-consuming Americans found that nearly 80% of them have made at least one purchase while drunk with an average annual spend of more than $400 per person. Courtesy of The Hustle, the online site conducting the survey, a little back of the envelope math puts the drunk shopping industry at $45 billion. The most common purchases being clothing, shoes, movies, and games. I have to say guys, as an Amazon shareholder, I was very happy to see that overwhelmingly, drunk shopping is being done on Amazon.

Gross: They should put in a failsafe. Like, "Are you sure? Have you been drinking? Click both buttons before this transaction goes through."

Hill: As a shareholder --

Gross: You don't want them to do that, you're right.

Jason Moser: I imagine this is a real boost holiday sales, right? That's the time where we tend to imbibe and you have to buy gifts for everyone. Hey, throw that extra Green Machine in there, or whatever you may buy. You can always figure out a way to justify it.

Aaron Bush: I think Amazon should totally lean into this. You see that they're white labeling and ripping off tons of other different products. They should start white labeling their own beers and wines, and on the labels, have ads and QR codes. That could double that $45 billion.

Hill: In all seriousness, if you're any online retailer, shouldn't you be taking this information and doing something with it? Shouldn't you be saying, "Look, we're going to start having flash sales Friday night starting at 09:00 PM."

Gross: Of clothing and shoes.

Moser: I think you need to do that. I think even more so, you look at Instagram and you look at Pinterest, another one, for example, where consumer behavior could be guided in that direction, people are surfing those sites all times of day. I could see them particularly using this as a way to juice that commerce.

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Aaron Bush has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Chris Hill has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Jason Moser has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Ron Gross has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.