Impulse buying: Fuelling employees’ debt problems?

Facebook, gossip columns, the football fantasy league – they are all possible destinations for your employees during a quiet ten minutes of the lunch break. Then there are those who are browsing their way through eCommerce sites to find their items of choice and the best deals – but is impulse buying adding to a growing problem of financial stress among employees?

According to recent research, as many as 37 percent of Brits have regretted making an impulse buy online. That share jumps to 55 percent when it comes to those with mental health problems, and the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute says that this might be evidence of a link between the two.

The availability of the internet around the clock, as a platform on which to shop, is acting as a temptation to employees already troubled by money problems. Any time of the day or night, including after the consumption of alcohol, when judgement might be flawed, we can purchase all manner of goods on the net, from entertainment or fashion items which we might not need at all, to even bigger and more financially draining investments such as holidays, cars and jewellery. All it takes is a click, and we can sit back and wait for delivery to our door, or even the workplace.

Some companies have even taken steps to ban websites they deem to be distracting or harmful from being used at work, but this can lead to resentment and an air of mistrust between the work force and the management of an organisation. Plus, this does not help employees once they leave the workplace for the day! The answer might lie in the supporting employees in the area of personal finance. By giving employees better information which can influence their buying behaviour for the better, we can move away from impulse buying towards healthy guiding principles, such as saving for the future and careful budgeting.

Better With Money has developed focused modules which allow you to provide your employees with a rounded financial education which can help them make better decisions in life. Click here for more information on the courses which we currently offer.