2023 Year in Review
- Over one-third (35.3%) of individuals didn’t save any money in the month of December, a sizable increase over previous months.
- Twenty-two times more money was spent on shopping than on fitness in 2023, as more individuals de-prioritized self-care spending.
- One-fifth of all shopping occurred on Amazon, underscoring a trend towards convenience and the brand’s dominance in the market.
“Effective financial management is about more than numbers; it’s about understanding and aligning our resources with what truly matters to us and what creates value in our lives,” Yuval Shuminer, Founder and CEO, Piere.
Spending more time together, upgrading wardrobes and devices, and seeing more of the world became the biggest priorities of 2023 among individuals using the Piere personal finance and budget management app, as reflected by their spending. A return to social norms after a difficult pandemic and an embrace of remote work opened more opportunities for individuals to buy what they wanted, see who they wanted, and go where they wanted without many strings attached over the last year. Some of these patterns seem like a predictable response after a few consistent years of being told “no” or “not yet” and others were, well, a bit more surprising.
According to a study by Piere of its anonymized users’ activity in 2023, creating and sticking to a budget during the year was a top priority (with 72.6% saving money through November), only cracking under the pressure of buying gifts, traveling home for the holidays, and buying that extra tin of cookies during December. For the last month of the year, the number of individuals saving money dropped to 64.7%, mostly expected during a season dominated by good times. Discounted December flights and a Cyber Monday that stretched into mid-December, it seems, were just the perfect cocktail to tip the average saver into an over-spender.
Experiences & Shopping Became The New Self-Care
With several years focused on self-care & mental health as individuals were stuck at home, 2023 found them exploring new avenues to put their money. Shopping sprees became the new yoga, as 22 times more was spent on shopping than on personal fitness, and 12 times more than on personal care.
Something that’s become all too familiar is opening Instagram and being faced with another friend who’s vacationing someplace that requires a passport. “Revenge travel” became a thing in 2022 when international borders started to reopen to anxious travelers, and in 2023 individuals were still looking to get back after being told to stay home. Travel was one of the top three spending categories of the year, and while having a great time together on the beaches of Croatia, users shared a toast or two (or three), pushing food and dining spending into the top three, as well.
The numbers suggest not a decline in self-care, but rather a shift in how individuals practice it, whether through updating their wardrobe, savoring a fine meal, or discovering new destinations.
Many were driven to spend with convenience
At the end of the day, those who didn’t want to battle the crowds found a new way to deal with stress: cut it out altogether. When it came time to buy that next generation air fryer or a new pair of jeans, Amazon.com was the top choice overall, with over one-fifth (21.4%) of all shopping done on Amazon without ever stepping foot inside a store. Purchases at Walmart lifted the company into second place, still trailing to Amazon, which users chose at a pace 2.6 times greater than the big box-turned-online retailer.
Convenience spending didn’t mean being alone
“Opting for a $35 bento box instead of cooking with groceries at home might seem financially imprudent at first, said Piere founder & CEO Yuval Shuminer. “However, this choice can represent something more meaningful: perhaps it affords an extra hour to cherish moments with your family or offers a much-needed opportunity to decompress on the couch after a hectic day. Effective financial management is about more than numbers; it’s about understanding and aligning our resources with what truly matters to us and what creates value in our lives.
Piere users demonstrated time and time again through their food and dining spending that having more time to be together, especially at mealtime, has become a big deal. Choosing to skip the 30-minute roundtrip drive downtown to a restaurant or the hour spent cooking and cleaning, individuals reclaimed that time as time for themselves and their families, and ordered food to eat together at home. Food delivery platforms including Uber Eats, Door Dash, Grubhub, and Postmates captured 9.3% of all food and dining spending during 2023. Out of the pack, Uber Eats put more meals on the dinner table than any other platform, with its trademark green delivery bags making up 4.9% of all home food delivery spending.
Methodology
This analysis, conducted by Piere, examines the anonymous spending patterns of 1,000 Piere users aged 18 and older from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023.