CHRISTMAS SHOPPING CRAZE

How South Africans 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 South Africans 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.

During Christmas we want to make our family and friends happy. 76% of respondents buy presents for their relatives. For 52% it’s a good opportunity to give their friends a gift. However, our survey results show that only 5% of South Africans decide to buy gifts for their colleagues. And 5% 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 clothes (67%), toys (57%), jewelry (43%), accessories (38%) and alcohol (29%).

An interesting fact is that many South Africans (43%) leave Christmas gifts until the last moment—December. Christmas ornaments in shopping malls and special sales like the famous Black Friday ones manage to convince more than half of South Africans to buy Christmas gifts earlier, in November. Only 5% shop for gifts in advance—before September.

When choosing Christmas gifts most South Africans ask directly what the receiver would like to get (52%). Fewer people ask directly try to find out what someone likes (33%) and 15% buy gifts on a hunch.

As the survey results show, the most desirable gifts of 2018 are jewelry (48%), money (43%), clothes (43%) and perfumes (43%). Sweets (48%), toys (43%), alcohol (33%) and Christmas cards (29%) were voted the least desirable gifts to receive. We spend 1505 ZAR on average on gifts.

Most South Africans (86%) spend Christmas at home and 14% visit their friends.

South Africans still buy Christmas food the traditional way: 71% shop in brick and mortar stores and markets. The remaining 29% use shop in both traditional and online stores. An average South African spends 1614 ZAR on Christmas food.

Is Christmas a reason to wear spick-and-span clothes? 52% of our respondents declare that they do not need new clothes and prefer those they already have in their closet. 38% of South Africans say that they buy brand new clothes and 10% content themselves with new accessories like jewelry or ties.

4418 ZAR is spent on average in South Africa during Christmas. Most of the money is spent on food (37%), gifts make 34% of that sum and Christmas outfits—29%.

Besides South Africa 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.

South Africa placed 22nd on our list with 4418 ZAR which converted into dollars amounts to $313. Czechs are leading with $527 spent on gifts, food and clothes. For comparison, an average Nigerian spends only $319 and people from the UK around $500.

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 Lookfantastic, Ubuy and Wish 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 South Africa, 210 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 South Africa 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.