SCA Christmas Shopping Insights

Australians will likely spend in excess of $17.8bn this Christmas season – with the greatest proportion going towards gifts.

If this Christmas is anything like the last,

Australians will spend in excess of $17.8billion in

the five weeks between 1 December 2014 and 6

January 2015.

Whether we want to or not, many of us get

caught up in the Christmas hype and spend on

gifts, holidays, entertaining family and friends,

and then hitting the Boxing Day sales.

With almost all SCA listeners planning on

buying Christmas presents this year,

let’s look at the key insights into their

shopping behaviour.

gifting festive vacations

boxing day sales entertaining

$17.8bn

Source : https://www.commbank.com.au/about-us/news/media-releases/2014/festive-spending.html & SCA Research Post Xmas Study, Feb 2015, Did you buy any Christmas gifts for Christmas 2014? N=1424

AUSTRALIAN CHRISTMAS SPENDING 2014

46%

42%

94% of SCA listeners

spent more than

$500 on gifts last

Christmas

of SCA

listeners will

buy presents

this year

spent more than

what they intended

to last Christmas

Whilst almost all SCA listeners

purchased gifts for friends and family

last year, what’s interesting is that

almost half (42%) spent more than

what they intended to.

Source : SCA Research, Post Xmas Study, February 2015 Did you buy any Christmas gifts for Christmas 2014? N-1424, I spent more than I intended to this Christmas : Agree N=1424 Before Christmas, many people had an idea in mind of how

much they would spend on presents. However, we know it’s hard to stick to a set amount! So – how much did you intend to spend on Christmas presents and how much did you actually spend? N=1345

Breaking it down, here’s what SCA listeners intended on spending on gifts last Christmas – and what they actually spent…

Try as they might to stick

to a budget, the SCA radio

audience spends more

than what they intend to on

Christmas presents

each year.

So cutting down on

spending might be the

intention this Christmas,

but it’s likely they will

actually end up spending

more than they planned to.

11%

23%

31%

15% 12%

7%

2%

8%

19%

27%

17%

13%

11%

5%

Less than$100

$100-$250 $250-$500 $500-$750 $750-$1,000 $1,000-$2,000 $2,000+

I intended to spend

I actually spent

Source : SCA Research Post Xmas Study, Feb 2015, Before Christmas, many people had an idea in mind of how much they would spend on presents. However, we know it’s hard to stick to a set amount! So – how

much did you intend to spend on Christmas presents and how much did you actually spend? N=1345

At the end of the day though, the SCA audience are not spending what they don’t have – they’re using cash and debit cards rather than credit cards.

Credit is not king for the SCA

listener, with the majority of them

using cash and debit cards to make

their Christmas gift purchases.

Interesting to note is that 1 in 4

people used Paypal to pay for

Christmas gifts last year – an

indication of online purchases.

So what are they buying?

Source : SCA Research Post Xmas Study, Feb 2015, And how did you pay for most of your Christmas presents this year? N=1345

debit card

Paypal

cash

layby

store card

credit card Method of payment

Clothes, toys and gift cards top the shopping list for Christmas.

Source : SCA Research, Post Xmas Study February 2015, What types of gifts did you purchase for people at Christmas? N=1345

Gifts on the shopping list

clothes toys gift cards books small electrical

beauty products / perfume

jewellery money food homewares

kitchen items

experience voucher

gift basket large electrical

flowers

When we compare the gifts bought with the previous year, we can see why 58% of people said they bought the same or more gifts than the year before.

Source : SCA Research, Post Xmas Study February 2015, What types of gifts did you purchase for people at Christmas? N=1345 & I bought fewer items this Christmas compared with last Christmas : Neutral/Disagree N=1424

Gifts on the shopping list

clothes toys books beauty products / perfume

money food homewares

2014

2013

80%

68%

60%

54%

50%

47%

42%

35%

30%

24%

20%

16%

15%

8%

5%

The most attractive gift buying segment are mums – they will likely be buying more gifts than other segments.

Mums are buying a greater number and variety of gifts

than other segments.

They seem to get caught up in the buying frenzy –

with half of them saying they spent more than they

intended to last Christmas.

Source : SCA Research, Post Xmas Study February 2015, ‘I spent more than I intended to this Christmas’ : Agree; What types of gifts did you purchase for people at Christmas? Females with children N=320

clothes

toys

gift cards

books

beauty products

small electrical

jewellery

Gifts mums bought last Christmas

money

food

home

“I spent more than I intended to this Christmas”

51%

More than half of people gave gift cards last

Christmas, which is typically considered a pretty

impersonal gift (although not quite as bad as

giving cash – which 1 in 4 people did).

However, when we asked people why they gave

gift cards, it was because they wanted to make

sure they got a gift that the recipient actually

wanted. Given that Australians returned unwanted

Christmas gifts to the tune of $520million last

year, this is obviously a very real concern for

shoppers.

Giving a gift card also provided the opportunity for

the recipient to take advantage of the post-

Christmas sales – to get more bang for their buck.

So when are people shopping?

Gift card giving…

of people gave a

gift card last

Christmas

Source : SCA Research, Post Xmas Study February 2015, ‘I spent more than I intended to this Christmas’ : Agree; What types of gifts did you purchase for

people at Christmas? N=1345 & http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/christmas/rush-to-return-unwanted-christmas-gifts-20150101-12ggv8.html

The majority of Christmas shopping starts in November – but it seems to be getting later each year.

In our post-GFC world, having to

wait for the craziness of EOFY

and Boxing Day sales is no longer

a reality. With a nationwide ‘save’

mentality triggered by the GFC in

2008-2009, Australians now

expect and have become

accustomed to retailers almost

consistently being ‘on sale’.

This has meant that savvy

shoppers trying to save money by

buying in the mid-year sales for

Christmas, can now take their

time and wait for the next retail

offering in order to get the best

deal. Our research has suggested

a shift over the past few years

from starting shopping early, to

leaving it closer and closer to

Christmas Day.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Before July July August September October November 1st week ofDecember

2nd week ofDecember

3rd week ofDecember

Source : SCA Research Post Xmas Study, Feb 2015, And again thinking about Christmas gifts, when did you start LOOKING for Christmas gifts in 2014 and when did you actually start PURCHASING presents?

N=1345 & I did the majority of my Christmas shopping outside of 'peak' shopping hours : Agree N=1424

57% of people did the majority of

their Christmas shopping outside

of peak shopping hours.

So extended trading hours are

pretty appealing!

When people started their Christmas shopping In store v online

With almost everybody heading to a store to buy gifts at some stage, we also found that half of these people are also heading online to find the perfect gift. Whilst the majority of Christmas shopping is done in store, on average more than one-third is done online.

Source : SCA Research, Post Xmas Study February 2015, ‘Where did you end up doing your Christmas shopping? & So you said that you did some of your Christmas shopping online. A little more specifically, what percentage of your

CHRISTMAS shopping do you think you did in store and on-line? N=671 & So you did a bit of your Christmas shopping in a store of some kind. What do you like about shopping in-store? N=1302

of people shop in store 97% 50%

of people shop online

63% Of those who shopped both in store and online, they did…

37% of their

shopping

in store

of their

shopping

online

In store shopping is still more

popular.

It appears that people like to be

able to see and touch products

before they buy them and not

have to wait for the product to be

shipped.

I like being able to see the product and compare the prices from store to store and I also love that I can buy it on the spot and not have to wait for it.

- SCA listener

But shoppers still research online before hitting the shops – and expect to increase this behaviour this year.

of people use the internet to research Christmas purchases prior

to going to the shops.

63%

expect they will increase their usage of the internet this year

to research Christmas purchases prior to going to the shops.

41%

Even more exciting is that….

Source : SCA Research, Post Xmas Study February 2015, Did you use the internet to research Christmas purchases prior to going to the shops? : Yes N=1345 & Based on your experiences with online shopping/research in the past year, do

you think you will increase your usage of the internet to enable you to do any of the following next Christmas? : Research products/services before going to the shops N=671

What it boils down to is that SCA listeners really get

into the gift buying spirit, with almost all of them

buying gifts.

They’ll be buying a variety of gifts and while plenty of

people will be researching their purchases online,

many will still be hitting the shops. They seem to like

the atmosphere of the shops at Christmas, the

immediate satisfaction of buying and taking home

and gift, and being able to touch and see the gifts

that they’re buying. But they’ll be heading to shops

well prepared – with over 1 in 4 writing a list and

2 in 3 researching their purchases before heading to

the shops.

Most will not start their Christmas shopping until the

start of November and the flurry of shopping in stores

will not end until the day before Christmas Eve.

Extended trading hours appear to be very appealing

to shoppers. So there’s plenty of time for advertisers

to get in on the Christmas gift buying frenzy!

Summary

Source : SCA Research, Post Xmas Study February 2015, I wrote a Christmas shopping list so additional items weren't purchased N=1424 & Did you use the internet to research Christmas purchases prior to going to the shops? N=671

Just like at Christmas time, we want to keep

the excitement going for as long as possible.

So there will be more Christmas research

coming out over the next few weeks.

Here’s what’s planned:

• Christmas Mood

• Online & Mobile Christmas shopping

• Kids & the Christmas spirit (and their

parents that buy heaps more!)

• The Last Minute Shopper

There’s more Christmas research coming!