Rise of the vampire shoppers: Meet the women who shop online in the dead of night but wake up full of regret (including one mum who blows more than £5,000 a year because of her late-night habit!)

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Tucked up on the sofa with the curtains drawn against the cold night air and a glass of wine in hand, the thought of venturing out onto a busy shopping street is anathema to most of us.

Yet it is late evening — 10.18pm to be precise — when we are at our most susceptible to impulse buying.

The traditional High Street is, of course, closed for business at such a time. But the so-called ‘vampire economy’ of late-night online shopping is very much open — and doing a roaring trade. If this sounds sinister, that’s because it is.

New research shows that one in three Britons now spend more money shopping online at night than they did five years ago. Pictured, Charlotte Douglass, 33, (left) and Melissa Keighley, 40

For savvy online shopping websites are increasingly using the hours of darkness to target vulnerable customers (most of them women) by bombarding them with ‘irresistible’ discounts.

It seems the strategy is working. New research shows that one in three Britons now spend more money shopping online at night than they did five years ago — browsing for an average of two hours, 12 minutes after dark a day. 

The research says they blow £25.33 a week on clothes, £15.99 on make-up and beauty products and £27.45 on presents for friends and family.

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, professor of business psychology at University College London, says online firms are cynically exploiting weaknesses in the human psyche to encourage splurges.

Research has shown that willpower is a measurable form of mental energy which becomes depleted the more you use it through the day — meaning that our reserves are considerably lower by the evening than they were in the morning.

‘Companies now have a lot of data on consumers, and this has helped them to understand when best to nudge customers,’ says Professor Chamorro-Premuzic.

‘People are more likely to drink alcohol at night. This is a lethal combination for making impulsive purchases and marketeers know it. But obviously, impulsive, alcohol-fuelled decisions are less likely be the smartest choices.’

Abi Rose, 39, a married stay-at-home mother from North London, blames her late-night shopping habit — which costs her more than £5,000 a year — not on shopping while under the influence, but on a fear of missing out on good deals

Splurging online at home — with disastrous consequences for her bank balance — is something Melissa Keighley understands only too well.

The 40-year-old music therapist from Kent lives alone and often buys useless objects online after dinner. Although she rarely spends more than £60 a time, over a year it equates to hundreds of pounds she can ill-afford.

She says: ‘I love the shopping app Wish, which offers great deals on beauty and fashion items, often labelling them “almost gone”.

‘But I think it should come with a breathlyser before allowing you to make a credit card purchase, because whenever I’ve had a few drinks, my judgment goes haywire and I buy extraordinary things, such as crazy patterned tights, which I never wear.

‘Wish is good at pinging notifications about an item you may have looked at a few weeks earlier, and which is now on sale. After a few gins, it looks attractive.

‘I usually spend about £10 to £15 a time, although I can go up to £60 if I really want something.’

The research says they blow £25.33 a week on clothes, £15.99 on make-up and beauty products and £27.45 on presents for friends and family

Hypnotherapist Claire Hegarty treats more than 50 women a year with shopping addictions at her practice in Chester. ‘It’s the “grab them while you can” mindset,’ explains Claire.

‘With so much available online, and many websites keeping your card details saved, it’s becoming so much easier to spend, even if it’s on items you don’t need or want, but think you must have before they run out.’ Charlotte Douglass, 33, a stay-at-home mother from Hove, East Sussex, knows how seductive those deals can be.

Like many mothers, she regards the brief window after the kids have gone to bed as precious ‘me-time’, and enjoys sitting on the sofa with a glass of wine and her smartphone.

She finds offers from retailers irresistible — such as 50 per cent off partywear, and easyJet and lastminute.com ‘flash sales’.

‘I have every single shopping app — Selfridges, Topshop, Asos, ShopStyle, you name it,’ Abi says

‘The emails will pop up and I’ll think: “Ooh, that looks like a good idea” and I’m off shopping,’ she says. ‘I’ve bought the silliest tat: lights that go under a cupboard and yet gobble up eight batteries a day; blue contact lenses for Halloween that turned up two days late; even a pen that promised to take scratches off the car.

‘It seems like a good idea at the time. But my decisions are never sound when I’m tired late at night.’

Yet this doesn’t stop Charlotte shopping online at least three nights a week. She hasn’t done the maths, but reckons she must easily waste more than £1,000 a year.

‘I once bought some parasols for £3 each for a friend’s wedding because I thought it might rain, but when they turned up they were miniature ones!’ In the harsh light of day, such is her regret that just the sound of the delivery van drawing up outside her four-bedroom house is enough to trigger a wave of shame.

‘I hardly take anything back though, as it seems such a hassle, so I end up wasting money.’

Splurging online at home — with disastrous consequences for her bank balance — is something Melissa Keighley understands only too well

Increasingly sophisticated smartphone technology has meant the rise of ‘one-click’ shopping, where customers’ payment details and addresses are stored online for future reference, so purchases can be completed in seconds.

Now, in a bid to help women such as Charlotte who are at the mercy of this enticingly easy to use vampire economy, the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute is calling for greater protection for consumers.

This would include card providers delaying payment until the morning after a late-night purchase to check you still want to buy, and options to permanently ‘opt-out’ of online retailers, blocking them like porn sites.

The Institute’s director, Polly Mackenzie, says: ‘It’s crazy because we have parental controls online and can block what our children do and watch, but we can’t block ourselves.

‘Retailers induce their customers to buy late at night when they might be tired and have had a few drinks — a toxic combination.

‘The biggest offenders when it comes to sending late-night emails are amazon.co.uk, lastminute.com and even Matalan is now sending them between midnight and 5am.

‘If you stumbled into a shop in the real world after a few drinks, it’s likely the assistants would discourage you from making a purchase. But online, it’s virtually encouraged, with your payment details stored and an autofill to help you key in your name and address, so you can easily do it even if you’re drunk.’

Abi Rose, 39, a married stay-at-home mother from North London, blames her late-night shopping habit — which costs her more than £5,000 a year — not on shopping while under the influence, but on a fear of missing out on good deals.

‘I have every single shopping app — Selfridges, Topshop, Asos, ShopStyle, you name it,’ she says. ‘They’re always sending me notifications with discounts, and I don’t want to miss out on what looks like a bargain.

‘I’m a big sucker for high fashion stuff that never lasts more than a season. And when I press “confirm payment”, it doesn’t feel like I’m handing over real money, especially if I use the online payment system Paypal, which can take up to a month to come out of my account.

New research shows that one in three Britons now spend more money shopping online at night than they did five years ago

‘My husband Danny and I have separate bank accounts and the packages tend to be delivered when he’s out, so he doesn’t know what I spend. But it is getting ridiculous.

‘I have 150 pairs of shoes, and five pairs of Converse sneakers, which I don’t need.’

Claire Hegarty suggests altering your evening routine to break the ‘sofa, wine and mobile phone’ habit. ‘Late-night shopping is often about winding down, so it’s about finding different ways to relax that don’t involve sitting with your phone or computer, which actually only keeps your mind active,’ she says.

‘Take some time out in the evening, even five to ten minutes, to do something unrelated to the rest of your day.

‘This could be calling a good friend, listening to some happy music or going for a brisk walk.’

Alternatively, you could always go for the full-on vampire detox and switch your phone off after 8pm.