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CHRISTMAS SHOPPING CRAZE

PicodiDecember 13, 2018

How Irish people prepare for Christmas

Christmas time is not just family reunions and decorating the Christmas tree. The last few weeks of the year are also a big burden on our home budget since we have to accommodate additional expenses, such as Christmas gifts, food and sometimes even elegant outfits.

Picodi Analysis Team decided to find out what Christmas expenses look like, what gifts Irish people usually buy and how much it costs to put food on the Christmas table. From our report you will also learn what kind of gifts are the most desirable ones and which are a bad idea.

What kind of gifts Irish people buy for Christmas?

During Christmas we want to make our family and friends happy. 75% of respondents buy presents for their relatives. For 35% it’s a good opportunity to give their friends a gift. However, our survey results show that only 15% of Irish people decide to buy gifts for their colleagues. And 15% of respondents declare that they help charities or make Christmas donations, e.g. a food drive.

What gifts do we usually buy? According to our respondents, the most popular categories are toys (75%), sweets (45%), clothes (45%), electronics (40%) and perfumes (40%).

An interesting fact is that many Irish people (35%) leave Christmas gifts until the last moment—December. Christmas decorations in shopping malls and special sales like famous Black Friday ones manage to convince more than half of Irish people (55%) to buy Christmas gifts earlier, in November. Only 10% shop for gifts in advance (September and October).

When choosing Christmas gifts half of Irish people buy gifts on a hunch. Fewer people ask try to find out what the receiver would like to get (35%) and only 15% ask directly.

As the survey results show, the most desirable gifts of 2018 are electronics (55%), money (30%), footwear (30%) and perfumes (30%). Sweets (40%), alcohol (30%), toys (20%) and knick-knacks (20%) were voted the least desirable gifts to receive. We spend 258€ on average on gifts.

How much money Irish people spend on Christmas food

Most Irish people (90%) spend Christmas at home. 5% visit their friends and 5% go abroad for Christmas.

Irish people still buy Christmas food the traditional way: 60% shop in brick and mortar stores and markets. 15% place their orders online and the remaining 25% use both options when shopping. An average Irish spends 118€ on Christmas food.

Irish people's Christmas outfits

Is Christmas a reason to wear spick-and-span clothes? 65% of our respondents declare that they do not need new clothes and prefer those they already have in their closet. 1 out of 4 Irish people says that they buy brand new clothes and 10% content themselves with new accessories like jewellery or ties.

How much money people from all over the world spend during Christmas

450€ is spent on average in Ireland during Christmas. Most of the money is spent on gifts (57%), food make 26% of that sum and Christmas outfits—16%.

Besides Ireland we conducted the same survey among other nations. The result is a comparison of Christmas spending for 34 countries of Europe, Asia, America, Africa and Australia where Christmas or its equivalent is celebrated over a similar time period.

Ireland placed second on our list with 450€. Czechs are leading with $463 spent on gifts, food and clothes. For comparison, an average German spends only 252€ and people from the UK around 440€.

Do not wait with your Christmas shopping until the last minute, as the most desired products sell out quickly! If you are unsure what to buy, check out stores such as Amazon, eBay and shopDisney and get inspired. With Picodi, you will earn some of the money you spend on gifts back through our cashback service.

Methodology

We conducted the surveys in early December 2018 among more than 13,000 people from Europe, Asia, America, Africa and Australia in countries where Christmas or its equivalent is celebrated during the winter period. In Ireland, 200 people took part in the survey. For currency conversion we used the average exchange rate for November 2018.

Public Use

Are you willing to share the information and infographics about Christmas in Ireland and other countries with your readers? Feel free to use all the data and infographics presented in this report for both commercial and non-commercial purposes as long as you indicate the author of the research (Picodi.com) with a link to this subpage.