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In this year’s Christmas survey, we asked Australians what percentage of their Christmas gift spend they expect to be online, and what percentage they expect to be in store (from our results, 95% of Australians buy Christmas presents, so we only discuss these Australians). While these results would be influenced by the fact the sample was drawn from Australians already online, it is still surprising. (Note: over 75% of Australians have internet access).
The average online Australian who buys Christmas presents expects 25% of their Christmas spend to be spent in online stores, and 75% to be spent in physical stores. This is a large proportion of Christmas spend, but it shows only a portion of the real answers.
When it comes to shopping for Christmas presents, the in-store experience is still king. 63% of Australians who spend on Christmas spend three quarters or more of their Christmas spend in a physical store, while 86% spend half or more of their Christmas spend in store. With only 1% of online Australians not purchasing from stores for their Christmas shopping, this shows that physical stores are still the dominant force when buying Christmas presents.
Comparatively, 7% of Australians spend three thirds or more of their Christmas spend online, followed by only 1% spending all of their Christmas spend online. Only 26% of Australians who spend on Christmas presents, spend half or more of their total Christmas budget in this area. Conversely of Australians who spend on Christmas presents, 30% of them do not shop online at all, while a further 33% spend 25% or less of their total Christmas budget in online stores, with these two totals added together revealing that at 63%, a majority of Australians who spend on Christmas presents spend 25% or less of their total budget online.
When it comes to Gender, Males are slightly more likely to be purchasing from online stores for their Christmas presents than Females. 60% of Females will be spending 25% or less of their total Christmas gift spend online, compared to 57% of Males. However the majority of this difference comes from people spending between 25% and 50% of their gift budget online, at 36% of Males compared to 31% of Females. Above 50%, there is no difference between Males and Females.
Christmas is really a telling time for retail. While the results of this research shows us what we have known for some time, that the online store is here to stay, an important thing to keep in mind is that this shows that so too is the physical store.
By Stephen Richard
Changes at Directional Insights
Directional Insights Pty Ltd formally announces that Helen Bakewell has altered the ownership and management structure of the company.
Helen Bakewell will now be more focused on serving our clients and the broader property market under her new title of Founder, Principal Consultant Consumer. Under this role Helen will continue to deliver her high quality consultations with clients, thought provoking presentations at industry events and a strategic role in Directional Insights’ growth in to the future.
Directional Insights Pty Ltd would also like to announce that Peter Kelly has been appointed Managing Director of the company. Peter first worked at Raine and Horne Commercial Pty Ltd. After Raine and Horne, Peter spent some time working for Woolworths and in 1996 pursued opportunities in Asia. In 1998 he returned from Singapore with strong contacts and specialized in providing business research and consulting services to growth segments. In 2007 Peter was appointed a Country Manager and Business Development Director of Spire Research and Consulting.
Directional Insights Pty Ltd
In store or Online, which rules Christmas?
In this year’s Directional Insights Christmas Survey, with an online sample of 1,000 people representative of the Australian population, we asked a few new questions to gauge Australian’s attitude towards Christmas. Two of these questions were attitudinal statements, where we asked people to indicate if they agreed or disagreed with a statement. The first question had six statements as follows:
Some of you may have noticed the two different questions inherent in these statements. Firstly, do people research out possible Christmas presents in store or online, or just impulse buy them when they see them? And secondly, do they purchase these presents online, or in store
When it comes to Impulse buying, 68% of people said they impulse buy in a physical store, while 31% may impulse buy online. The shopping centre leads the pack here, being a place people are far more comfortable to impulse buy their Christmas presents.
When Australians research possible presents in a physical store, they are over twice as likely to buy those presents in a physical store than they are to purchase them online, at 65% to 27%. However the reverse is not true of researching online, with Australians just as likely to purchase in the physical store or online, after having done their research online, with both at 51%.
For the physical retail store, online research is a double edged sword, as it both gives the consumer the information they need to go out and purchase, but it cannot be guaranteed if they will purchase online, or in store. Comparatively, impulse buying and researching in a physical store both serve the physical retail shop well, with 68% and 65% respectively going on from there to buy in store, over twice that of the respective buying online results. Online interaction gives the customer a way to engage with your store from the comfort of their own home, but once they are engaged in store, they are far more likely to purchase Christmas presents from the store itself.
By Stephen Richard
What do Australians expect out of Christmas
The second attitudinal statement question had statements that could be divided into a number of groups. These groups being ‘Christmas Decorations/events’, ‘Shopping Centres at Christmas’, ‘What Retailers can do at Christmas’ and ‘Giving Presents’.
Christmas Decorations/events.
When it comes to Christmas decorations and events, Australians are mostly positive, with 66% saying they really like it when shopping centres have lots of themed decorations and events to celebrate the occasion, while 45% agree that it is important they have a nativity scene and 32% enjoy visiting the centre for activities laid on for Christmas, such as Santa visits and kid’s activities. We asked people their thoughts on the negative statements ‘I think shopping centres should remove all Christmas decorations on display along with the Christmas carols and Santa during the Christmas trading period’ and ‘I think shopping centres should not display Christian icons and nativity scenes during the Christmas trading period’. Those of you who love the season will be happy to hear the responses for these were overwhelmingly disagree, with only 13% and 16% agreeing, respectively.
Shopping centres at Christmas.
When it came to what Shopping centres should do for Christmas, by far the largest result was for extending trading hours during December to help Christmas shopping, with 70% of Australians agreeing, including 75% of Women. To further this idea of the benefit of easing the Christmas rush, 52% of people said they avoid shopping centres at Christmas due to the number of people using them. 45% of Australians think retailers and shopping centre owners have a duty to raise money for charities during this period. Only 15% of people said they would be happy to pay for Valet parking at Christmas to ease the parking problems.
What Retailers can do at Christmas.
There are some expectations on retailers during the Christmas period, with 56% of Australians loving a gift with purchase option when shopping at Christmas, 51% thinking free gift wrapping is a must when shopping at Christmas, and 46% agreeing that they enjoy being pampered by retailers when doing their Christmas shopping, such as with a glass of wine. The preference for these activities comes mostly from women, with 66% of women loving a gift with purchase option, and 51% enjoying being pampered by retailers.
Giving Presents at Christmas.
When it comes to giving presents, we asked people how likely they are to search for store vouchers or special offers online when doing their present shopping, or if gift cards are a large part of their Christmas shopping. 48% and 41% of Australians respectively agreed with these statements
Christmas is an important time of year, for families and friends, retailers and shopping centres alike. Australians place a strong emphasis on Christmas, and expect both shopping centres to do the same, but by fulfilling these desires the emotional drivers that make people not only visit a shopping centre but WANT to visit that centre in the future will be fulfilled. Unlike The Christmas Carol, in this business Ebenezer Scrooge is not the one who has the money, instead it is the retailer who holds its doors open for Tiny Tim.
By Stephen Richard
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The Buzz
Who is Peter?
Many of our readers would have noticed some of the changes taking place at Directional Insights during the month of November.
The most noticeable and immediate change is that Helen Bakewell is now concentrating on servicing our clients’ needs under her new title of Founder, Principal Consultant, Consumer. Helen needs very little introduction as her work in the research, business and property industries is universally recognized.
My role as managing director will be to complement Helen in ensuring that Directional Insights are meeting or exceeding our clients’ expectations and to oversee and manage the growth of the company.
My background was in retail and commercial real estate prior to moving into business research in 1996. In 1996, I was offered a position with Asia Market Intelligence Business Consulting in Singapore. I also worked with Spire Research and Consulting and Global Intelligence Alliance during the period of 2000-2010 in Australia and Singapore. During this time I completed projects on IT, critical infrastructure and food.
So why Directional Insights?
Maybe destiny. The more likely reason is that Directional Insights is a great company with great people, products and customer focused service. We provide insights that keep you informed, up to date and we even industry benchmark our shopping centre research.
In the New Year, Helen and I look forward to meeting our many partners as we launch our breakfast briefing series, which includes Helen’s memorable November 2011 Property Council of Australia presentation and the release of our 2011 Christmas series. We also hope to update clients on our expanding suite of products, which now includes customer exit surveys, focus groups, vox pops, B2B services and more.
Finally, and not in order of importance, I would like to thank Helen Bakewell, Andrew Okely, Margaret McQueen, Kylie Newcombe, Carmel Smith, Adam Innocenzi, Sarah Cosier, Stephen Richard and Brooke Chehab for what has been an exceptional and record breaking year for Directional Insights. We believe that the new management structure will further enhance DI’s resources and capabilities so that we can enhance the existing client experience.
By Peter Kelly
When to spend
One of the big questions for retailers and shopping centre owners is: When does the Christmas buying season start. It is important to understand, so retailers know when to put on those enticing Christmas sales, shopping centre managers know when to put up those festive decorations, and so we all can know when to expect the rush of Christmas buying. Well, in the Directional Insights 2011 Christmas Survey we asked Australians when they do their primary Christmas shopping, and when they do their secondary Christmas shopping.
When combining primary and secondary shopping, the two periods people are most likely to be shopping for Christmas presents in are the first and second week of December, both with 14% of Australians listing this as their primary period for Christmas shopping, and 30% listing it as their secondary period. This is mostly in line with the results from 2010, where 46% of Australians purchased presents in the second week of December and 45% in the first week. However, 18% of Australians did their primary Christmas shopping in the first week of December back in 2010, which has shrunk to 14% now.
Overall the six biggest periods for Christmas shopping, both primary and secondary, were from November to the third week of December, with a significant proportion of Australians on the lookout all year round, or purchasing at major sales throughout the year.
Back in 2010, the most common time to purchase Christmas presents was actually all year round, with 24% doing their primary Christmas shopping all year round, followed up by 26% doing their secondary shopping by keeping a lookout in stores all year around, for a total of 50%. In the new 2011 results, this has shrunk to a total of 40% of Australians.
When it comes to primary gift purchasing, all year round is king and has been for some time. As far back as the 2009 Christmas survey when 27% of Australians did their primary gift shopping all year round, down to 24% in 2010 and back up to 26% this year. This puts it far ahead of the next highest result of 14% for both the first week of December and for the second week of December. Another result of interest is November. Back in 2009 19% of Australians did their primary gift shopping in November, however this decreased to 16% in 2010, and this trend has continued down to 13% in 2011.
The five largest periods for primary gift shopping in 2011, each with results over 10%, were mostly found from November to the third week of December with the only exception being Australians on the lookout all year around at 26%.
When it came to secondary gift shopping, the five largest periods are once again mostly found from November to the third week of December, all with results higher than 20%. The exception from this block of time is in Australians purchasing at major sales throughout the year, at 24%.
But fear not, readers who always seem to leave things like this to the last minute, you are not alone. Once again 10% of Australians will be doing either their primary or their secondary gift shopping on the 24th of December, as has been the case in 2010 and 2009.
By Stephen Richard
NOTE:This is general information only and does not constitute advice nor take into account any individual’s or company’s specific requirements, and should not be relied upon as such. Readers are advised to seek specific advice. Directional Insights makes no representation nor gives any warranty as to the accuracy of future forecasts. This information is not intended as investment advice or other advice and must not be relied upon as such. You should make your own inquiries and take independent advice tailored to your specific circumstances prior to making any investment or other decision. To the fullest extent permitted by law, any conditions, warranties or liabilities implied by law into these conditions are hereby excluded. All copyright resides with Directional Insights Pty Ltd.
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