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You may think that impulse shopping on sites like Amazon or Walmart is about the stuff you are buying, but psychologists will tell you that it has more to do with the ritual itself and the dopamine hits that it provides.

That is why some are never really satisfied when they buy material things and just keep going back for more.

But what if you could get those dopamine thrills without spending any money?

As one of the most high-tech countries on Earth, South Korea also has one of the most developed online shopping sectors.

But media outlets are reporting an interesting trend among the country’s young shoppers – the increasing use of “dopamine sites” that essentially mimic online shopping platforms down to the minute details in order to provide a realistic shopping experience.

Just like actual online marketplaces, dopamine sites feature hundreds of products, detailed reviews, ratings, filters, and promotions. You can add products to your shopping cart, fill in your delivery address, and click the “order” button. And that is where the fun begins.

An app shows a courier accepting your order and heading to your address, and you can track his progress on the map in real time.

In the end, however, nothing is delivered and, most importantly, no money is ever charged to your credit card.

According to many young users, the whole experience provided by these fake shopping apps is almost identical to that of placing a real order. It includes excitement, anticipation, and a shot of dopamine, even though you are always aware that you are not really purchasing anything.

For many South Korean youths, using dopamine sites has become a real-life activity in the face of the high cost of living and the constant temptation of advertising.

The real benefit is savings but with the added psychological satisfaction of going through the addictive shopping experience.

For now, dopamine sites have only found an audience in South Korea, and judging by the comments on popular social media platforms like Reddit, they may never take off in the West.

Outside Korea, people just do not seem to be interested in “wasting their time” with fake shopping apps, and some experts warn that, while dopamine sites can help people save money, they also reinforce the same behavioral patterns that make online shopping addictive, even though no money changes hands.

That fantasy ordering will never be popular in most of the world seems a no-brainer, but those actually interested in these “dumb” shopping sites would probably also love two other “pretend” aspects of modern tech: the dumb phone and the dumb watch, which we featured earlier on LOBE.