More than 50% of people have already started their Christmas shopping, according to a new survey.
Money-saving website offeroftheday.co.uk polled more than 2,200 UK adults over the age of 18 and found that 54% of UK residents have begun Christmas shopping despite December 25 being three months away.
Respondents were asked how they felt about Christmas this year in comparison to last year’s which was spent in lockdown with the exception of Christmas Day.
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Over two thirds (63%) said they want to make Christmas more special this year to make up for the lost experiences and memories last year, WalesOnline reports.
It was then found that 54% of UK consumers have already begun their Christmas shopping, with one in seven of those having already finished buying the gifts on their shopping list (14%).
As many as 79% of respondents who haven’t yet started their Christmas shopping said they have already started to make lists of what they need to buy ahead of the festive period, with a further 84% stating they have bookmarked items to purchase on their devices.
When it comes to Christmas shopping, it was found that the bigger, more expensive gifts are the items most commonly purchased first (68%).
When asked if they had more or less money to spend on Christmas this year, the vast majority (76%) said that even though they had more money set aside for Christmas, they intend on sticking to their budget better than previous years as the pandemic has shown then the importance of budgeting.
The average additional budget for Christmas 2021 was found to be £300.
Rick Harris, Director of offeroftheday.co.uk, commented: “2020 was a struggle for everyone, whether they found themselves out of work or not, and having to spend Christmas alone, or with less family and friends than normal, would’ve been incredibly difficult - so I’m sure that people are itching to ensure that they have the best Christmas possible this year.
“Christmas is always an expensive time of year for people, especially those with large families, so it will be interesting to see just how much the pandemic has impacted the way we spend - or save - money around seasons like this.”
Top reasons people have started their Christmas shopping already:
- Wanting to spread the cost of items over a period of time – 68%
- Wanting to ensure all gifts are purchased before stocks run low – 51%
- Wanting to avoid shopping trips closer to Christmas, with bigger-than-usual queues – 31%
- Wanting to get ahead to ensure the run up to Christmas isn’t stressful – 27%
- Wanting to make it special for friends and family – 14%
