UK shoppers plan to spend the most money on their child (£144) or their partner (£133), reserving less than £100 for any seasonal treats they might want for themselves, according to new research.
With the average gift shopping budget per person now reaching £365 just for their parent(s), a child and partner, it follows that 36 percent of UK shoppers are using Black Friday and Cyber Monday to buy gifts for others. This is according to Rakuten Marketing’s recent research report, Guess Who…Unwrapping the Global Holiday Gift Shopper.
With Black Friday and Cyber Week fast encroaching, the ubiquity of discounted mobiles, headphones, smart watches, and home appliances around this period means that in 2018 a third (33 percent) of UK consumers will be spending money on home electrical and music systems as gifts.
However, just eight percent of UK consumers want to receive such a product as a gift, pointing to significant disparity in supply and demand caused in a large part by the proliferation of consumer technology deals.
Tech loses ground
Globally, technology remains a staple part of gift shopping. Sure enough, at a global level, the types of gift consumers are most looking to receive this holiday season are home electrical and technology gifts (28 percent).
The UK, however, is one of the first countries to break away from this trend. Locally, cosmetics (16 percent), fashion (25 percent) and travel (17 percent) are what consumers most want to receive as gifts.
This complexity makes buying gifts a far more sensitive process, requiring the buyer to explore avenues truly relevant to the recipient – no surprise that over a fifth said they need ‘all the help they can get’ with making gift-buying decisions.
“Black Friday and Cyber Monday shot to fame offering the latest consumer tech goods at discount prices. However, recent research is now telling us that consumers in the UK are preferring to receive fashion, cosmetics and travel-related gifts. This shows the importance of targeting your shoppers in line with local nuances vs. a one-size-fits-all approach. Consumer behaviour does not fit one mould,” explains Anthony Capano, Managing Director of Europe at Rakuten Marketing.