Hungarian shoppers no longer wait until the last minute to do their Christmas shopping,

By: Trademagazin Date: 2024. 12. 18. 12:08

Hungarian shoppers are no longer waiting until the last minute to start their Christmas shopping, many start buying gifts in November – shows Etele Plaza’s online research. Most spend 5-10 hours choosing surprises, spending a total of 50,000 – 100,000 forints. The vast majority of respondents enjoy holiday shopping, although many find it stressful at times.

More than 200 respondents shared their Christmas gift-buying habits in the shopping center’s survey. A significant portion of those surveyed (45%) buy their gifts in November, and many even earlier (18%), while a third of them plan their purchases for early December (33%). Shoppers mostly browse the offerings of malls (95%) and online stores (75%), and far fewer try their luck in local convenience stores (18%) or markets (17%).

The majority (51%) are spending the same amount on gifts this year as last year, but there are almost equal proportions of those who are spending less (24%) or a little more (25%) on surprises. Most people (32%) spend a total of 50,000 – 100,000 forints on Christmas gifts, while every fifth person buys between 100,000 – 200,000 forints (22%), or 20,000 – 50,000 forints (22%).

Four out of ten (42%) choose personalized or special products, while a quarter of respondents (23%) prepare a surprise that matches the hobby of the recipient. Buyers mostly choose gifts spontaneously (69%), or get inspiration from ideas from friends and family (57%), or online and social media (44%). The most common gifts under the tree are beauty products (60%), experiences (e.g. concert tickets, trips, wellness coupons – 59%), clothing and fashion items (54%), toys (51%), books (49%), and electronics (46%). Almost two-thirds of the research participants (61%) consider it important to buy an environmentally friendly, sustainable gift, and only a fraction (6%) do not care about this aspect at all.

Most people spend 5-10 hours buying gifts (38%), but a quarter of respondents (29%) spend even more than that, while a similar proportion (26%) are willing to spend about 2-5 hours. The vast majority of respondents (86%) enjoy Christmas gift shopping, even if many of them (36%) find it stressful at times. When choosing surprises, the most important consideration is the pleasure they get (65%), followed by their uniqueness (18%) and quality (13%).