If you've ever signed up to a subscription box service, you'll know how addictive they can be.
There's the anticipation of waiting for the box to arrive, the excitement of wondering what's inside, and the thrill of getting a haul of shiny new products delivered directly to your door once a month.
But according to retail experts, there's a reason why we can't get enough of subscription boxes — and it all comes down to psychology.
University of Tasmania marketing lecturer Louise Grimmer has studied the science behind it all, and she said the rush we get from subscription boxes was similar to a gambler's high.
"If you keep giving subjects the same reinforcements all the time and they're always certain there's going to be a reward, people tend to lose interest quickly. But when you're gambling, you're never sure when or if you're going to get that reward, and the same goes for subscription boxes. There's uncertainty about what's inside them, like gambling. The rush of dopamine you get when you open a box is like what you get when you gamble, or when you get a like on social media," she said.