Retail overconsumption has become a problem in America.
Retail overconsumption can be described as “consumption levels that exceed what is necessary or beneficial.” This means buying more of something even though it is not a necessity and you probably don’t need it.
In my opinion, the real root to this problem is social media. Over the past few years, there have been multiple trends and new products to try out. One example is water bottles, like the Hydro Flask and Stanley Tumbler. In late 2019 to 2020, being a “VSCO girl” was a trend on TikTok, and a main part of it was having a Hydro Flask water bottle. Naturally, a lot of people bought them. Fast forward to 2023, where Stanleys became popular and hit their peak in sales after a viral TikTok.
While I did fall guilty to buying a Hydro Flask back in 2019, and just recently getting a Stanley Tumbler, they are both great water bottles. But did I really need both of them? I thought I did because my Hydro Flask was getting old and I wanted something new, but at what point is it too many water bottles?
As someone who is on social media, I see the amount of influencers and people buying absurd amounts of products just like these water bottles, which should not be okay. For example, I might see a video of someone picking out which one of their 20 Stanleys that they’re going to use that day. Another example is this TikTok of a creator “picking out their shower routine.” That’s something I don’t think I’ve ever heard before, and the creator goes on to show all of their products like shower gels, shampoos, scrubs and others. It is just too much.
The thing with overconsumption like this is that it has been overly normalized and people seem to think that it’s okay to have all these things. But in reality, it’s never been normal to have 15 of the same brand lip glosses, but people think it’s okay because they are all different shades. Well, are all of the lip glosses really going to get finished, or in reality is money just being wasted because the product just happens to be trending?
The answer is yes, social media platforms like TikTok have now made it even easier for people to buy more stuff, by promoting advertisements for TikTok Shop and other cheap online stores like Shein and Temu.
However, the newest trend to address retail overconsumption, specifically for beauty products, has entered TikTok. It’s called ‘Project Pan.’ It’s a challenge to finish your product so you get to ‘the pan,’ which is the bottom of your beauty products or when it’s just empty. Even though this can’t apply to everything, it is still a good start to people getting back into the reality of not buying the newest thing the second they see it.
Overall, I think that people should be more mindful of how much of one product they are buying. I think those who have already engaged in overconsumption should either try ‘Project Pan’ or do something similar to it. Maybe think about donating items or just slowing down on how much stuff you buy and push against overconsumption.
