Australians are a very loyal bunch, with 60 per cent rarely venturing beyond 10 different stores and online shops.
An American Express survey found that only 10 per cent of Aussies are impulse shoppers, with 85 per cent generally sticking to the same spending patterns.
The survey, conducted in February 2015, polled 1993 Australian consumers.
American Express VP of customer service, Andrew Carlton, said it is important for companies like his to study spending patterns in order to spot any unusual activity to prevent fraud.
For instance, that’s why most credit card companies urge customers to advise them if they are going overseas, it could be someone else using your card overseas.
“Our intelligent security systems can easily detect those needles in the haystack transactions and this is one of the reasons why we have one of the lowest fraud rates in the country,” he said.
The financial services giant has identified different spending pattern categories and said that most Australians belong to at least two of these categories.
Sales seekers spend most of their disposable income on special offers or during discount sales, 41 per cent of Australians fall into this category.
Passionists mainly spend on a single hobby or activity, for example travel, or a particular sport or activity, they make up 30 per cent of the population.
Localists always spend in the same shopping strips of shopping centres and make up 29 per cent of the population.
Paydayers get most spending done very soon after payday, 28 per cent fall into this category.
Loyalists always shop with the same store brands or websites making up 24 per cent of the population.
Cyber spenders get most spending done online rather than in a shop – they make up 22 per cent of the population.
Clock watchers spend at the same time each week, 21 per cent fall into this category.
Planners like to plan their spending and make their purchases evenly throughout the month at a wide variety of stores. They are usually middle aged or older, this spending category makes up 20 per cent of the population.
The rest, 10 per cent of Australians have varied spending patterns, which are much more difficult to track. They spend at a wide variety of locations and stores, and at varied times.
AAP
