2. 2
Source : http://retail.org.au/news-posts/aussies-hit-mark-christmas-shopping/ & SCA Research
Post Xmas Study, January 2016, Did you buy any Christmas gifts for Christmas 2015? N=2264
If this Christmas is anything like the last, Australians will
spend in excess of $47billion in the five weeks between
mid-November and Christmas Day.
Whether we want to or not, many of us get caught up in the
Christmas hype and spend on gifts, holidays, and
entertaining family and friends.
With almost all SCA listeners planning on buying Christmas
presents this year, let’s look at the key insights into their
shopping behaviour.
4. 44
Source : SCA Research Post Xmas Study, Jan 2016, Before Christmas, many people had an idea in mind of
how much they would spend on presents. However, we know it’s hard to stick to a set amount! So – how much
did you intend to spend on Christmas presents and how much did you actually spend? N=2150
Try as they might to stick to a
budget, the SCA radio audience
spends more than what they intend
to on Christmas presents each year.
So cutting down on spending might
be the intention this Christmas, but
it’s likely they will actually end up
spending more than they planned to.
10%
21%
30%
16% 14%
8%
2%
7%
16%
27%
17%
14%
14%
5%
Less than $100 $100-$250 $250-$500 $500-$750 $750-$1,000 $1,000-$2,000 $2,000+
KEY
I intend to spend I actually spent
6. 6
Source : SCA Research Post Xmas Study, January 2016, And how did you pay for most of your
Christmas presents this year? N=2150 Families N=765 Couples N=780 Singles N=363
Families are more likely than the other
segments to use a broader variety of payment
methods. In particular they will use Paypal,
layby and credit cards.
Couples will predominantly use cash
and debit cards.
Singles are more likely than the other segments
to use debit cards. They’re the group least likely
to use credit cards, layby and Paypal.
8. 88
Source : SCA Research, Post Xmas Study February 2015 and January 2016, What
types of gifts did you purchase for people at Christmas? 2015 N=1345 2016 N=2150
61%
55%
38% 37%
27% 27% 26%
60%
53%
36% 38%
27% 27%
22%
KEY
2015 2014
9. 9
Mums are buying a greater number and variety
of gifts than other segments. They seem to get
caught up in the buying frenzy – with half of
them saying they spent more than they intended
to last Christmas.
Source : SCA Research, Post Xmas Study January 2016, ‘I spent more than I intended to this Christmas’ :
Agree; What types of gifts did you purchase for people at Christmas? Females with children N=308
75% 73%
60%
45% 42% 42% 41%
31% 31% 29%
20% 19% 14% 7% 6%
10. 10
More than half of people gave gift cards last Christmas, which is typically
considered a pretty impersonal gift (although not quite as bad as giving
cash – which 1 in 4 people did).
However, when we asked people why they gave gift cards, it was
because they wanted to make sure they got a gift that the recipient
actually wanted. Given that Australians returned unwanted Christmas
gifts to the tune of $630million last year, this is obviously a very real
concern for shoppers.
Giving a gift card also provided the opportunity for the recipient to take
advantage of the post-Christmas sales – to get more bang for their buck.
So when are people shopping?
Source:SCAResearch,PostXmasStudyJanuary2016,
WhattypesofgiftsdidyoupurchaseforpeopleatChristmas?
N=2150&http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/what-to-do-with-
your-unwanted-christmas-gifts-20151229-glwmmx.html
11. 11
Our research has suggested a shift over the past few years
from starting shopping early, to leaving it closer and closer
to Christmas Day.
Although there are still those that start early, most people
don’t start until November. Online shopping understandably
drops off by December, while last minute shoppers still head
to the store right up until Christmas Eve.
Source : SCA Research Post Xmas Study, Jan 2016, And again thinking about Christmas gifts, when did
you start LOOKING for Christmas gifts in 2015 and when did you actually start PURCHASING presents?
N=2150 & I did the majority of my Christmas shopping outside of 'peak' shopping hours : Agree N=2264
6%
4%
3%
5%
10%
19%
17%
16% 16%
4%
2% 2%
4%
9%
17%
13%
6%
3%
Before July July August September October November 1st week of
December
2nd week of
December
3rd week of
December
KEY
IN STORE ONLINE
12. 12
In store shopping is still more popular. It appears that people like to be able to see and touch
products before they buy them and not have to wait for the product to be shipped.
Source : SCA Research, Post Xmas Study January 2016, ‘Where did you end up doing your Christmas shopping? & So you said that you did some of
your Christmas shopping online. A little more specifically, what percentage of your CHRISTMAS shopping do you think you did in store and on-line?
N=994 & So you did a bit of your Christmas shopping in a store of some kind. What do you like about shopping in-store? N=2078
14. 1414
Source : SCA Research, Post Xmas Study January 2016, Did you use the internet to research Christmas purchases prior to
going to the shops? : Yes N=994 & Based on your experiences with online shopping/research in the past year, do you think
you will increase your usage of the internet to enable you to do any of the following next Christmas? : Research
products/services before going to the shops N=994
15. 15
What it boils down to is that SCA listeners really get into the
gift buying spirit, with almost all of them buying gifts.
They’ll be buying a variety of gifts and while plenty of people
will be researching their purchases online, many will still be
hitting the shops. Online will hit its peak in November while the
physical stores will see action right up until Christmas Eve.
SCA listeners will be well prepared when they do hit the
stores, with over 1 in 4 writing a list and 2 in 3 researching
their purchases before heading to the shops.
Most will not start their Christmas shopping until the start of
November and the flurry of shopping in stores will not end until
the day before Christmas Eve. Extended trading hours appear
to be very appealing to shoppers. So there’s plenty of time for
advertisers to get in on the Christmas gift buying frenzy!
16. 16
U n s p l a s h
S t o c k s n a p
P i x a b a y
The results of this survey are “INDICATIVE” ONLY.
The survey was conducted by Southern Cross Austereo using its online
panel nationally.
The panel is obtained from our radio networks database under the labels
of ‘Hit VIP’ on the HIT Network and ‘Music Jury’ on the MMM Network. All
members of these databases would be considered listeners to these
stations.
The database contains about 200,000 members.
The is split between the Hit database and the Triple M database.
Of these members, approximately 16,000 people were invited to be part of
our panel community.
Members of the both database were asked to take part in the study and
over 2,336 people did so. The Gold Coast and Newcastle database were
also invited to participate.
Various filters have been placed over the data at different times.
Certain questions asked for an ‘essay’ or ‘verbatim’ type of response OR
brands/words that first came to mind.
A keyword search was used to sort and rank the responses to these
questions.
The results are an un-weighted sample, but are reflective of the Southern
Cross Austereo audience. SCA brands reach approximately 35% of the
10+ population and approximately 41% of the 25-54 population in the five
metropolitan markets in Australia, suggesting it would be reasonable to
consider these results to be a fair if not fully balanced representation of
the opinions in these marketplaces.
Furthermore, as it is an online survey, the respondents would also be
skewed towards being ‘early adopters’ for technology, ‘trend setters’ in
general and likely to be a good early indication of brand leaders, trend
setters and early adopters in general.
These research surveys conducted by Southern Cross Austereo are done
so to provide a general understanding of the opinions, interests and
attitudes of the metropolitan marketplaces only.
17. 17
Just like at Christmas time, we want to keep the excitement
going for as long as possible. So there will be more Christmas
research coming out over the next few weeks.
Here’s what’s planned:
• Online & Mobile Christmas shopping
• Kids & the Christmas spirit (and their parents that buy
heaps more!)
• The Last Minute Shopper
And have you already seen:
• Early Christmas Shoppers
• Christmas Mood
