A fifth of all gifts bought this year will be technology related (20%), with the average technology spend across the country on tech gifts will be £267, according to new research.
Purch’s 2016 Christmas Spending Survey was conducted independently by OnePoll among 1,000 18-55 year olds.
Key results:
When it comes to buying presents, the busiest period will take place during the final two weeks before Christmas day with a quarter of shoppers planning to buy gifts for their nearest and dearest in that period. The so-called phenomenon of Cyber Monday didn’t appear to excite consumers with just 6% of spenders dedicating their shopping time to that particular day. The survey also revealed that the days of panicked gift buying a couple of days before Christmas are also over, with just 2.6% of respondents planning to shop last minute.
In terms of presents being bought, video games will be by far the biggest gift with 25% of shoppers opting to purchase them as a gift, followed by tablets/ipads (17%) and laptops (13%). Just 8% of respondents put an Apple Watch on their gift buying list, a trend that supports recent news of falling sales. It also appears we’re not going to be splashing out on smart kitchen devices for our loved ones with just 7% opting to put them on the tech gift list. Perhaps the old adage of not buying kitchen equipment as a present still rings true today, even if it comes with a myriad of smart features?
As for the headphone war, it looks like wireless has finally (just) won over the wired headsets although it depends on your age. Surprisingly, the 18-24 year olds opted for wired headphones with only 8% opting for wireless, compared to 16% of 45-54 year olds diving in on the wireless experience.
Average spend on technology-related products in the UK will be £266.58, although if you’re female and a parent, this rises to £316.88 compared to £267.82 for male parents. There are also regional variances with the highest spend on technology related presents taking place in London (£321.57), closely followed by West Mids (£310.98) and East Anglia (£302.54). Spending less than the UK average this year are Scotland (£216.16), Wales (£217.96) and the Yorkshire & Humber region (£221.40).
However, it seems Londoners are less inclined to spend as much when it comes to gadgets for their children. According to the report, the biggest spenders on their children are based in the East Midlands where residents splash out an average of £412.60, compared with London spending £276.35.
Generally, the older your parents are the more they will spend on you too. If parents are 25-34 they will spend on average £271.84, if they are 35-44 £296.56, if they are 55+ they will spend £362.75.
Purch’s survey also shed light on some significant variances across the regions when it comes to buying technology presents for children. If you’re a child living in Northern Ireland, the good news is that the likelihood you will receive a gadget or electronic toy this Christmas is the highest in the UK. A whopping 89% of parents have bought or are planning on buying a gadget or electronic toy this Christmas, closely followed by parents in the North East (79%) and London (75%). The odds diminishes somewhat for those in Wales (44%), the East Midlands (50%) and the South East (54%).
When it comes to making decisions on which products to buy this year, it seems consumers value online reviews more than anything else to help them buy (nearly 40%) and then they head off to the high street to undertake some serious window shopping and trying before they buy (37%). A mere 11% of people got recommendations on what to buy from magazines and 12% from TV/Radio or press ads.
Andre Baden-Semper, VP of European Sales & Marketing at Purch said, “Despite the threat of rising prices in the wake of Brexit, it seems consumers across the UK are set to be spending significant amounts on technology-related products this Christmas, especially when it comes to their children. This is great news for vendors and recipients alike. Video games, smartphones and laptops appear to be topping the charts, with smartwatches and smart kitchen devices not such a draw this year. Purch helps more than 100 million people worldwide make better buying decisions through its technology editorial and shopper services – we’re looking forward to seeing what our audience will be buying this year and if they will buck or confirm the trends revealed in our survey.”