It’s 2020: bye bye Santa, hello Mr. Postman
One in four residents of Switzerland plans to buy fewer Christmas gifts this year than in 2019. The reason: COVID-19. And those still buying gifts prefer to do so on the Internet.
Birthday party: cancelled. Beach holidays: postponed to when things get better. Job: lost. The coronavirus has put quite the dent in our plans this year. And now, Christmas has been added to the list: the Federal Council wants to ban family celebrations with more than ten people. And it’s suggesting we move any celebrations from the living room to the open air.
It’s now become clear that the pandemic has also done a number on the joy of giving: one in four residents of Switzerland plans to buy fewer Christmas gifts this year than last year. That’s what the results of our representative survey show, which was conducted by the market research institute GfK on behalf of digitec and Galaxus. A total of 501 people were surveyed in mid-November. Just three percent of those stated the opposite – that they plan to buy more gifts this year. And two thirds say their Christmas shopping won’t be influenced by the virus.
In general, the pandemic’s certainly egging on consumption. According to figures from the Federal Statistical Office, Swiss retailers have experienced around five percent higher sales since June, compared to the previous year. Instead of spending our money on holidays, concerts or restaurant visits, we’re spending it on things that make daily life more pleasant. For instance, on a comfy couch, a new game console or a coffee machine for our home office.
One obvious conclusion is that quite a few people are passing on gifts for their cousins’ children and the like, since large celebrations with distant family are a no-go. And for people whose budgets have been ravaged by the crisis – musicians, flight attendants and restaurant owners, for example – the focus is saving money and not what’s to be found under the Christmas tree. But it’s also possible that the Swiss are simply filling more of their time with arts and crafts, baking or other DIY activities, and are therefore buying fewer gifts. Galaxus sales figures point to this hypothesis: this year, more than five times as many crafting articles made their way through the post office than in the entirety of 2019.
The online boom continues
It turns out that one in seven people is not buying any Christmas gifts this year, i.e. is not gifting anything, or only homemade ones. But those who are buying gifts this season prefer to do so online: 32% said they’re buying Lego, games or perfumes for their loved ones mainly on the Internet. On the other hand, 30% intend to do their Christmas shopping mainly in stores. 24% are undecided.
In the weeks leading up to Christmas Day, Digitec Galaxus expects at least 50% more orders than in the same period last year. For this record time period, the online retailer has doubled the staff in its warehouses compared to the end of 2019.
The survey also points to when the Christmas shopping rush begins: 44% stated they do their shopping in December, while 7% take care of it just before Christmas. In contrast, 22% started buying gifts in November, and 24% started even earlier.
One in three buys presents on bargain days
This year, Black Friday and Cyber Monday beat all records. One reason for this is likely that many Swiss residents took advantage of these days to buy gifts: even before Black Friday, a good third of those surveyed said they were going on a gift hunt on bargain days. On the other hand, half of the respondents had no such intentions.
No matter whether you order your gifts from us, go bargain hunting or only give homemade gifts this year: we wish you happy holidays and a good 2021!
Visuals: made with Flourish.
At Digitec and Galaxus, I’m in charge of communication with journalists and bloggers. Good stories are my passion – I am always up to date.