As Christmas approaches, the country has gone into its annual shopping-frenzy. However, everybody has their own method to the madness when it comes to purchasing their gifts and so this Christmas, we’ve taken a look at the personas of the Christmas present, and how they’re changing year on year.
High Street Shoppers
Despite once being the only way of Christmas gift buying, physically going into a store and purchasing is slowly becoming less of a choice by shoppers. Having to physically go into a store is a growing inconvenience to some and so high-street shopping tends to be popular for an older customer, who may not be able to use online shopping as effectively. According to a recent study by KPMG International, the following reasons were given for why consumers choose to shop in-store:
- Wanting to physically see the item in person/try the item on
- Delivery of online shopping taking too long and costing too much
- Not trusting the online security of card payment and delivery
- Wanting to buy a product that is too valuable to be shipped
- A concern that products will look different in person
- Enjoying the experience of in-store shopping, especially at Christmas
Online Shoppers
In a recent survey by KPMG International, 58 per cent of shoppers prefer using online methods to buy their Christmas presents as they have the ability to shop at any time and aren’t limited to store opening hours. Although, it seems that younger shoppers are the bigger fans of online shopping as according to Big Commerce, 67 per cent of Millennials say it is their preferred method. Other reasons for choosing online shopping include:
- Being able to save more money due to better prices
- Saving time by avoiding checkout lines and not having to physically search for items
- There’s a greater selection and variety of products online
- Avoiding crowds and the Christmas shopping rush
Sales Shoppers
Whilst some shoppers are happy to pay full price for their gifts so that they have them ticked off the list in advance, a large number of shoppers choose to purchase their gifts in the sales. A significant 30 per cent of UK consumers admit that they wait until Black Friday in late November for their bigger purchases, despite it typically being an American event. Following on from that, three in ten adults in the UK say that they choose to purchase their Christmas gifts after the 25th of December in the post-Christmas sales, in order to get more for their money and grab themselves a great bargain.
Last year, households spent a total of £821 million pounds on Christmas alone. With online shopping figures soaring this year, we can only expect that amount to rise massively for 2018.