South Africans reap rewards for Christmas
South Africans will be spoiling their loved ones this festive season, with 32% of respondents planning on spending between R250 and R500 on each gift they buy, and 29% planning on spending between R500 and R1000 per gift, according to the 2011 Festive Survey conducted by coalition loyalty programme, eBucks.
The survey found that just under half (48%) of respondents planned to buy gifts for between one and five people, while 38% were planning to buy gifts for between five and ten people.
When asked what gift would top the respondents' wish list this festive season, 58% said that they want to receive a gadget or electronic device. The next most popular gifts were cash or vouchers (13%), jewellery (5%), books (4%) and appliances (4%). In keeping with these findings, gift vouchers were the most popular items purchased via the eBucks online store during both the 2009 and 2010 festive seasons.
According to eBucks CEO, Jolande Duvenage, "Almost all (95%) said that the festive season is one of their favourite times to show their loved ones how they feel by giving a special gift or two. And they're putting more thought into how they will be spending on gifts this year, and buying more meaningful gifts for those who are closest to them."
When it comes to buying the perfect gift for their partners, the survey found that 42% of men and 37% of women planned to spend between R500 and R1000 per gift on their significant others. In addition, a third of men (34%) men and a quarter of women (24%) were likely to spend over R1000 on a gift for their partners.
Among parents planning to buy gifts for their children, 40% planned to spend between R1 and R500 per child, while 39% planned to spend between R500 and R1000 per child. Some 15% planned to spend between R1000 and R3000 per child, while a minority of 3% planned to spend more than R3000 per child.
Careful planning ahead of the shopping season also seems to be increasingly popular, with 36% of respondents saying that they had already begun their festive shopping in November. Approximately half of those surveyed (53%) said they do their shopping in the three weeks leading up to Christmas day, with a minority (4%) sheepishly admitting to doing their gift shopping either on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day.
When it comes to shopping for gifts, nearly 50% said that they would buy gifts from a number of shops, as well as online stores. While 40% of respondents like to touch and see the items that they are purchasing in bricks-and-mortar stores, 8% of respondents said that they do all their shopping online because it saves them time and because they can avoid the crowds.
"We have already seen an increase in activity in the eBucks online shop, as our members have already started buying their Festive Season goodies," says Duvenage. "We are also seeing increased activity from programme partners through which our members can redeem their eBucks," note Duvenage.
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