Buying Christmas gifts in stores instead of online is apparently back in fashion. As a current survey shows, 84 percent of Austrians want to buy from physical retailers this year. One in five indicate that they would like to shop in stores more often this year. When choosing gifts this year, many people want to let the recipient decide what they want to treat themselves: Vouchers are the most popular gift under the Christmas tree.
The survey was conducted by market and opinion research institute Integral on behalf of shopping center operator Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. According to this, almost every second person (43 percent) wants to give away coupons this year, followed by toys (30 percent) and books (27 percent). While women are much more likely to think of decorative items, toys, cosmetics, perfume and books when giving gifts than men, men like to give away sports and leisure items.
Budget for gifts is 320 euros
After almost three years of Corona restrictions, shopping in stores during the Advent season is becoming increasingly popular in retail. 84 percent prefer physical stores for their Christmas shopping – slightly more than last year. At that time, 80 percent said they wanted to shop locally. Almost six out of ten percent also want to shop online. Primarily, family members, especially spouses or life partners and children, receive gifts. Slightly more than one in three also want to give something to friends, about one in five (22 percent) also want to give themselves something. The planned total budget for Christmas gifts was given at an average of 320 euros.
To avoid stress during Advent, 14 percent of those surveyed want to get their Christmas gifts earlier this year than in the years before the outbreak of the corona pandemic. According to the research, younger people are taking the time to shop later. Sustainability is apparently an important factor this year: two in five respondents said they make sure they buy their gifts from stores that place a high priority on sustainability – ie energy-saving measures, less packaging or offering ecological alternatives.
Source: Krone
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