The key facts

  • For users under 20, 82% of online orders are made at night, for Generation X — 80%, for millennials — 60%
  • 55% of respondents place orders at night, 10% are ready to pay around the clock
  • Top nighttime categories: household goods (45%), clothing and footwear (44%), ready-made food and groceries (43%)

Young people and Generation X lead in nighttime orders

Zoomers and Generation X buy online at night more often than millennials: among users under 20, the share of nighttime online orders is 82%, for Generation X it is 80%, while for millennials it is only 60%. This is shown by data from a YooMoney study received by Gazeta.Ru. Among the youngest users, the high level of transactions persists until 07:00 and drops sharply to 76% only by 08:00 — when classes at schools and universities begin.

Survey: who orders and when

According to the survey, 55% of respondents place orders at night, 26% are active in the deep night hours, 9% order in the pre-dawn hours, and another 10% said they are ready to pay around the clock. Generation X (Russians aged roughly 45 to 60) keeps its share of nighttime purchases at 80%, while millennials are noticeably more passive online at night: 40% of them spend offline at night — in stores, cafes and restaurants, and at gas stations. Natalya Razheva, head of card products at YooMoney, explained that the young audience lives in a seamless digital environment and makes impulsive orders on social media and gaming services, while for Generation X the nighttime hours often become the only time to calmly analyze offers without work pressure.

What people buy at night and how men and women differ

Most often at night, Russians order household goods (45%), clothing, footwear and accessories (44%), as well as ready-made food and groceries (43%); these are followed by home appliances and electronics (29%), digital goods (23%) and gifts for loved ones (22%). The gender breakdown shows specialization: for women, orders of goods and services account for 59% of all nighttime transactions, for men — 47%, while the habit of physical shopping at night has been better preserved among men — 14% of transactions versus 10% for women. The only category with absolute parity is nighttime mobility: spending on taxis and public transport was exactly 18% for both genders.

Context

Earlier, as the outlet notes, Russians were warned about how micro-purchases on marketplaces destroy the budget. The study data reflect the structure of spending, not its volume: the publication contains no information about total nighttime spending or dynamics compared with previous periods.