Minimalism in the rising age of e-commerce and digital marketing
By: Mihir Parekh
Tags: Money Mindset, Minimalism, Digital Marketing, Happiness, Lifestyle

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

When you hear the word ‘minimalism’, what first comes to mind? Is it a frugal way of living with few personal possessions? A form of art that inspires the clean edges and white-walled homes in ‘Architectural Digest’? Or the videography and calming voice of a Matt D’Avella Youtube video?

My desire to explore minimalism began in June 2018 as I stood in front of the Facebook European headquarters in Dublin. Embarking on my first internship with this digital marketing giant, my role for the summer involved helping small and medium-sized businesses grow their brands through Facebook advertising. Within a short space of time, I noticed three key trends emerging within the industry which made me think more deeply about my purchasing decisions as a consumer.

Firstly, there is a strong presence of dropshipping within e-commerce: Dropshipping involves businesses partnering with third-party sellers (often found in developing countries) that both produce and ship the products that are sold on a website platform such as Shopify. As these businesses aim to maximize profit margins and are potentially isolated from the products they are selling, consumers can end up with poor quality goods. This also has the unintended consequence of generating more plastic waste as many of these products will inevitably end up in the landfill. Secondly, there is a growing trend towards mobile-first purchases: Over the last decade, individuals have switched from using mobile as a ‘browsing’ platform (and then using a PC to purchase goods) to using mobiles directly as a ‘purchasing’ platform. Whilst this reduces the implicit effort to purchase online, it also increases the likelihood of dopamine-driven impulse buys. Thirdly, e-commerce businesses have continued to tailor their efforts to periods of rampant consumerism. In the UK, the economy is driven by household consumption (66% of our GDP output) and online brands use this culture in combination with events such as Black Friday to their advantage. There always seems to be an endless cycle of ‘deals, discounts, and bargains’.

Alongside these trends, my day-to-day work in the tech industry opened my eyes to a more minimalist style of living. Walking into work, I’d see people with plain t-shirts and jeans who were driven by a culture that regarded the quality of their work more highly than the clothes they were wearing. This presented an idea of minimalism based less on material possessions and more on what’s truly important. Another interpretation of minimalism came from a conversation with a colleague and a close friend of mine. He mentioned that ‘everything [he buys] should have at least two purposes’. Whilst this definition stretches slightly too far for me, my opinion is that minimalism is an approach of living a clutter-free life, making more purposeful purchases and spending money on experiences that create lasting memories rather than material objects that may only provide fleeting moments of satisfaction.

This article was not meant as a means of endorsing a minimalist lifestyle fad. Nor was this article some form of slander against digital marketing and big tech companies. The purpose of this article was to encourage you to think more deeply about your own purchasing decisions in an ever-changing digital landscape.