Chain says duvet covers are most popular item, with flights and holidays the most common credit card purchase

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Bedtime browsing by sleepless Brits in the middle of the night has resulted in a 23% increase in nocturnal spending over the last year alone, according to John Lewis.

The department store chain said that online shopping between midnight and 6am now accounts for around one in 15 purchases that use its credit card.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, searches for duvet covers are the most popular item on the John Lewis site in the early hours, while headphones also come into the top 10 buys.

But the most common night-time purchase on the credit card – which can be used at any retail outlet – is for holidays and flights.

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Mike Jackson, director of financial services at John Lewis & Partners, said: “Shopping is now a 24-hour activity. More customers are shopping on their smartphones and tablet computers and it would appear many are using this technology to shop from the comfort of their own beds.”

Women are much more likely to spend the early hours shopping than men, according to the data. It found that women account for 66% of purchases made between midnight and 6am, although their average spend was below that of men.

Two decades ago, Saturday afternoon was the peak spending time on cards in the UK, but online shopping has revolutionised spending habits.

Research by Barclaycard in 2016 found that late evening browsing was changing the shape of shopping, with 10.18pm the most common time to make a purchase.

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It said that nocturnal shopping increases when the clocks go back, with long dark evenings encouraging people to stay home and shop online instead.

Many purchases are influenced by primetime TV shows, it said, with The Great British Bake Off spurring night-time sales of proving drawers, and Strictly Come Dancing inspiring people to book dance classes.

The secondary peak in online shopping is between 11am and midday, according to separate analysis by data company Verto Analytics. The report said the overall peak was around 9pm, but 25- to 34-year-olds in particular, make online purchases in the late morning before heading for lunch. So if you’re reading this while at work on a Monday morning and at the same time flicking between shopping websites, you’re probably the average millennial consumer.