Contact: Jane Kneebone
Corporate Affairs & Communications
Deloitte Growth Solutions
Tel: +61 (0) 3 9208 7389
Mobile: 0416 148 845 Consumers will be savvier and more price conscious with their 2008 Christmas gifts spending, according to the Deloitte/Australian Retailers Association (ARA) 2008 Christmas retail survey. The national analysis of the proposed 2008 Christmas spending of 933 consumers (mostly aged between 18 and 40) revealed that almost a fifth of respondents will purchase between 10% to 40% of their presents after Christmas Day to benefit from the post-Christmas sales. Almost two thirds of respondents (63%) said they were going to purchase the same amount of gifts this year, but will be more careful with the type and price of the items they purchase. According to the survey: - more than half (56.8%) plan to start their Christmas shopping in December
- November remains a popular month for Christmas shopping, with almost a quarter starting this month
- over a quarter leave their Christmas shopping to the last minute, making their first trip the week before Christmas
- just over half (55.4%) said they were going to spend the same amount of money on Christmas gifts this year, compared with 61% in 2007
- half (50.5%) said they intend to buy most of their Christmas presents from suburban shopping centres, compared with 35.6% from the CBD
- over half (57.9%) said that ‘research and compare products’ are the most important reasons they will use the internet to help them with their Christmas shopping.
Katrina Doney, Deloitte director and retail expert, said the results highlight that consumers are short of time for early Christmas shopping, but are still spending this year. “Consumers are likely to be savvier this year, and will be doing research on the internet to make sure they get the best value for money,” Ms Doney said. Katrina Doney
Director
Deloitte Growth Solutions
Mobile: 0409 800 660 Kath Christie
Policy and Media Relations Officer
Australian Retailers Association
Tel: +61 (0) 1300 368 041
Mobile: 0422 293 544 |
