Dollars for dopamine

By now, the piles of parcels accumulated from Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales have probably been unpacked and strewn around your home.

Aussies spent an estimated $6.8 billion over the BFCM weekend, a new record. But this shopping frenzy is a story that goes far beyond the staggering figures.

Retail therapy is becoming more than a term thrown around for a bit of a shopping spree. Nearly half (47%) of consumers use shopping to improve their mood, with almost two thirds saying their emotions influence their purchase decisions.

When shopping becomes a source of precious dopamine, logic goes out the window. 

More than half of Aussies have regretted a purchase or had a negative experience during Black Friday sales, according to Choice. Turns out that even at 71% off, Jamie Oliver by Tefal frypans still aren’t worth it.

Eager to keep spending - and driven by the desire to give the perfect gift this festive season - Aussies are throwing budgets out the window.  The value of credit card balances hit a four-year high of $18.4 billion in September, while nearly half of all consumers plan to use their frequent flyer points to help cover Christmas shopping.

This is despite one in five of us re-gifting presents last year to the value of $1.3 billion. That 2025 calendar is still good, trust us. 

Giving beautiful gifts to those you love and the random colleague you don’t really know but a computer selected for you in the office Secret Santa is a wonderful tradition. But with the cost of living crunch still impacting many, our shopping obsession is doing more harm than good. 

The pressure of BFCM and the holiday season is huge, and adds to an already dopamine-driven retail fetish. But it may be better for everyone to avoid the mall, scroll quickly past the ads, and work with what we’ve got.