Fifty-six percent of Poles plan to spend the same amount on their Christmas shopping this year as they did the year before, according to the survey Poles’ Own Wallet: E-commerce for Christmas (Polish: Polaków Portfel Własny: E-commerce od święta). Fourteen percent of respondents intend to cut their budget, while 19 percent say they will spend more. Most of them claim this is the result of rising prices.
A study by Santander Consumer Bank shows that one in five participants (19 percent) plans to increase their spending, while 14 percent will reduce their budget. Higher costs are primarily planned by people aged 30–39 (27 percent).
Among those planning higher spending, 77 percent indicated that this is due to rising prices. Some respondents said they have a longer gift list (32 percent), others want to allow themselves more expensive and higher-quality presents (22 percent), and some are hosting Christmas at home or welcoming a larger group of guests and therefore expect higher costs (15 percent).
Some respondents plan to reduce their Christmas spending this year. The main reason is limited financial circumstances, as stated by 31 percent of those surveyed; women pointed to this more often (34 percent) than men (26 percent). This issue affects 49 percent of people with the lowest incomes, up to 2,999 PLN.
To reduce expenses, 26 percent of respondents plan to buy fewer presents, while 23 percent intend to use Christmas decorations from previous years or make them themselves. According to the survey results, women are more likely than men to try to manage household finances; 45 percent of them reduce everyday expenses, compared with 10 percent of men.
Forty-nine percent of residents of the largest cities intend to spend the same amount on Christmas as last year, the lowest result among urban areas.
Online shopping
A quarter of Poles plan to spend up to 500 PLN on Christmas purchases in online stores. This amount was most often indicated by the youngest adults aged 18–29 (34 percent); 28 percent will not exceed 1,000 PLN, and nearly one in five people declares spending between 1,001 and 2,000 PLN (19 percent). More than 2,000 PLN will be spent by one in ten respondents.
Meanwhile, 13 percent of Poles do not intend to do their Christmas shopping online. This is more common among men (15 percent) than women (11 percent), and similar attitudes are seen among both seniors (16 percent) and eighteen-year-olds (15 percent).
The survey was conducted by the Institute for Market and Social Research (IBRiS) for Santander Consumer Bank between 27 September and 6 October this year using the CATI method. The study included 1,005 adult Poles who shop online.