More German consumers are expected to shop online for their Christmas gifts this year thanduring the same period a year ago, boosting overall sales during the holiday period even though the
planned average spending is slightly lower this year, according to the latest consumer survey bythe German e-retail association (bevh).Conducted in cooperation with Creditreform Boniversum GmbH (Boniversum), the study surveyingGerman citizens in the 18-69 age range nationwide revealed that the average spending budget ofpotential online shoppers is estimated at around €459, which is slightly below the previous year’slevel.
This drop in expenditure confirms the findings of other studies as well, bevh said. However, itexpects the overall revenues to increase as both the number of potential online buyers andconsumers preparing for Christmas considerably increased so far this year. These two factors areexpected to contribute to stronger online and mail order sales in Germany than last year, despitethe falling spend per purchase.
The number of people willing to shop online and with mail-order companies during this year’sChristmas period increased by 3%. The purchase order quantity has also slightly increased, with therespondents planning to buy 3.7 different articles on average while the order volumes from womenexceed those of men, which was the case last year as well.
Bonuniversum CEO Ralf Zirbes said: “Ordering Christmas presents from home without stress remainsvery popular among German consumers. Especially among those aged 60-69, the willingness to buytheir Christmas gifts online has considerable increased. Online shopping for Christmas thus nolonger depends on age. All the more important for retailers is to offer a wide range of paymentoptions so every shop visitor – no matter the age – can find his/her preferred payment method.”
The most popular product groups for Christmas include, as usual, clothing, textiles and shoes aswell as books, with toys ranking third. In terms of average expenditure, however, other productsgroups have taken the lead. German consumers thus spend on average more than €200 on computers& accessories, jewelry & watches, furniture & decoration items.
“The combination of inspiration, flexibility and convenience when shopping online leads toincreasingly more consumers shopping online, especially for Christmas, while remaining loyal to theclassical Christmas gifts,” Martin Groß-Albenhausen, responsible for E-Commerce and Marketing atbevh, said.
For the survey, which was conducted for a fourth time in a row, bevh interviewed over 1,000German consumers regarding their purchasing behaviour in online and mail order trade during thepre-Christmas period.
