As much as we love talking about our own shopping finds on the Strategist, we’re equally interested in what our readers are buying. And while we regularly round up your favorites in our monthly “Your Shopping Cart” feature, at the end of the year we like to take a bird’s-eye view, analyzing the shopping trends and patterns that emerged during the previous 12 months.
So we took a peek at your virtual shopping carts to answer some of our most nagging questions, like: What was the most purchased item on Black Friday? Which famous person’s essentials most captivated Strategist readers this year? And did we beat our record for the most expensive item ever sold on the Strategist? Here’s a closer look into how you shopped in 2023.
What were our top sellers every month?
Let’s go big-picture first. Here is the top-selling product from each month — as determined by quantity purchased rather than the amount of money spent.
The Zimasilk mulberry-silk pillowcase dominated our readers’ shopping carts in the second half of 2022, so it’s not a huge surprise that it continued its victorious reign into 2023. It remains a compelling dupe for much more expensive silk pillowcases from brands like Slip and Parachute, and our beauty writer, Tembe Denton-Hurst, deemed it our pick for best affordable silk pillowcase.
Another recurring best seller was CosRx’s snail-mucin essence — a favorite of our beauty columnist, Rio Viera-Newton. (In fact, 2023 marked the sixth anniversary of Rio’s popular Google Doc, which she sends to her friends who want to know her skin secrets, and this was the only product that appeared on the first and most recent versions of her list.) But it seems that our readers were most interested in it when it went on sale: It appeared in the top spot in July and in October, thanks to Amazon’s two different Prime Day events — and it showed up a third time in November, when it was on sale for Black Friday at the cheapest price we’ve ever seen.
The one-hit wonders included our favorite travel pillow, the Trtl, in September. The fast-moving card game Dutch Blitz was a top seller in December, when gift guides dominated our site — meaning that it might have been one of the presents in your stocking this Christmas.
Speaking of the holidays, who was the hardest-to-shop-for person on readers’ lists?
This year, thousands of you wondered what to get the teenage girl in your life — and for many, the answer was these string lights to decorate their room and display photos. These first appeared in our 2019 teen-girl poll, so it’s good to know there are some things that don’t change, even four years later. We’ve been told these twinkly lights are a great way to improve a drab dorm room too, so it’s something she’ll have to bring along to college.
Which story was the one readers couldn’t wait to tell their friends about?
You were invested in thin-lipped-woman Annie Hamilton’s week of unrequited love — and her quest for plumper lips using Ourself’s $145 Lip Filler while on a romantic weekend with a paramour. The plumping treatment uses no needles, just some hyaluronic acid, and it did improve the shape and color of her lips. “They’re a little swollen and they’re a bit rosier. They just look livelier than usual,” Hamilton writes. But, unfortunately, she wasn’t so lucky with the date.
What was the most expensive thing anyone bought?
In 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022, various high-end Kahuna massage chairs secured first-place titles — but this year, a new (and more luxurious) massage chair entered the chat. It’s Luraco’s i9 Max Chair, and it’s officially the single most expensive item purchased by a Strategist reader. Ringing up at around $15,000, it offers a range of features, including a scanning function, adjustable armrests, full-body stretching technology, and a touchscreen tablet for complete control of every massage.
What about people with expensive taste? What were they buying?
We love to ask famous people about the things that they can’t live without, and this year, Sofia Coppola provided the most-read edition of our shopping column. Interestingly, though, the item that drove the most clicks wasn’t her $615 menswear button-up or her $75 exfoliating mask. It was the least-expensive item on her list: the Yorkshire Gold black tea that the Priscilla director drinks every morning. Coppola says her friend, a tea sommelier, recommended it, and now she’s very attached to brewing it — so much that she brings it wherever she’s traveling. “I look forward to it in the morning and I drink tons of it, then I’m sad when I have to stop drinking it at the end of the day,” Coppola says. “It gets me through my shoots.”
Which Best in Class story was … the best in class?
We’ve never thought of ourselves as juiceheads, but our writer Jeremy Rellosa’s deep dive into the best protein powders was our most-read guide. His best overall pick, Now Sports powder, was the clear reader favorite. It contains 20 grams of whey protein isolate, and because it’s unflavored, the powder tastes more like whatever it’s mixed with. That’s why Jeremy likes adding it to his yogurt-granola bowls.
So, we’ve got tea and protein oats. Were there any other breakfast items that readers enjoyed?
If you count in sweet-treat form, then yes. Though we published it in January, Caroline Weaver’s ode to Pocket Coffee — an Italian chocolate that contains a shot of liquid espresso inside — remained our most-read single-product ode all year long. Each box contains five individually wrapped chocolates that Weaver says give her “a late-afternoon boost” and satisfy her afternoon craving for another cup of coffee.
The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best acne treatments, rolling luggage, pillows for side sleepers, natural anxiety remedies, and bath towels. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
