Irish consumers splurged over €600 million on buying Christmas gifts online in December 2016, up 30% from 2013

1. Online Christmas Shopping 2016
An Amárach Briefing
February 2017

2. In January 2017, Amárach surveyed a
representative sample of Irish adults
about their Christmas spending and
shopping behaviour (i.e.: December
2016).
The survey replicated one conducted
in January 2014 about Christmas
2013 shopping. We have also
included trend data on online
spending by Irish consumers from
our PlanR market intelligence
database.
This report summarizes the main
findings and trends from the survey.
Image cred: technofaq

3. Christmas
Shopping

4. 4
Q. Did you purchase any gifts online for yourself or others in the run up to
Christmas just gone?
Two thirds of Irish people did their Christmas shopping online in 2016, up from 2013
65% 61%
35%
39%
2016 2013
Yes No

5. 5
Q. Did you purchase any gifts online for yourself or others in the run up to
Christmas just gone?
Women, 25-44 year olds, and the ABC1 social class were more likely to do their Christmas
shopping online than other groups
65% 61% 68% 68% 71% 73% 66%
51%
68% 61%
35% 39% 32% 32% 29% 27% 34%
49%
32% 39%
All Irish
Adults
Male Female 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+ ABC1 C2DE
Yes No

6. 6
Q. How much did you spend on gifts purchased offline at Christmas?
Average online Christmas shopping spend rose by 20% between 2013 and 2016, while the value
of spending rose by 30% to €615 million during Christmas 2016
€219
€264
€0
€50
€100
€150
€200
€250
€300
Christmas
2013
Christmas
2016
Average Online Spend
per Christmas Shopper
€470
€615
€0
€100
€200
€300
€400
€500
€600
€700
Christmas
2013
Christmas
2016
Value of Online Spending
€ million all shoppers

7. 7
Q. How much have you spent online on any goods or products or services in
the past month? Please include online subscriptions such as Netflix, Spotify, News subscriptions etc.
Average monthly online spend has been rising steadily (with seasonal patterns emerging) since
we began tracking it in 2014 (source: getPlanR.com)

8. 8
Q. Compared to this time last year, would you say you spent more, the same,
or less money when Christmas shopping online this year?
4 in 10 spent more online in Christmas 2016 than Christmas 2015
42%
39%
19%
Spent more Same Spent less

9. 9
16-24 year olds have seen the biggest increase versus the previous year
42% 42% 43% 50% 43% 43% 44%
32%
44% 41%
39% 41% 37%
31% 40% 43% 40%
40%
41%
37%
19% 17% 20% 19% 17% 14% 16%
27%
15% 22%
Purchased
online
Male Female 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+ ABC1 C2DE
Spent more Same Spent less
Q. Compared to this time last year, would you say you spent more, the same,
or less money when Christmas shopping online this year?

10. 10
Q. What were your main drivers for shopping online this Christmas?
Convenience and value were the main online Christmas shopping drivers
64%
52% 51% 50%
41%
24%
Ease of shopping from home Greater savings or deals online
Avoiding the crowds Better range online
Free delivery The value of sterling against the euro

11. Post Christmas
Shopping

12. 12
Q. How much of your post-Christmas (starting Christmas day) sales shopping
did you do online?
Over a third of Irish people did at least some post Christmas sales shopping online.
5%
11%
20%
33% 31%
All online Mostly online Some online None online Didn’t shop in sales

13. 13
The Over 55s are the least likely to do post Christmas shopping online
5% 3% 6% 9% 5% 4% 5% 1% 5% 4%
11% 13% 10%
17%
16% 14% 8%
4%
13% 9%
20% 20% 21%
21% 28%
20%
18%
16%
19% 22%
33% 34% 32%
31% 22%
30%
31% 44%
32% 33%
31% 31% 31%
22% 29% 31% 37% 35% 31% 31%
All Irish
Adults
Male Female 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+ ABC1 C2DE
All online Mostly online Some online None online Didn’t shop
Q. How much of your post-Christmas (starting Christmas day) sales shopping
did you do online?

14. Purchases and
Delivery

15. 15
Q. What types of products did you buy online before or after Christmas?
Clothing and footwear is the most popular of the top ten products bought online
60%
28% 28% 24% 23% 21% 18% 16% 13% 12% 11%
Clothing or Footwear Toys or baby products Beauty or Cosmetics
Electronic goods Books or Magazines Jewellery or accessories
Electrical goods Flights or holidays Sports or Outdoor
Music or CDs Groceries

16. 16
Q. After ordering online before or after Christmas where did you have your
purchase(s) delivered to?
The vast majority (82%) get their online purchases delivered to their home but 15% use
designated collection points like Parcel Motel or An Post Address Pal
82%
15% 14%
6% 5% 3% 3%
Home
Collection point
Work
Direct to intended
Friend
Neighbour
Other

17. 17
Q. Were you offered free delivery on your online Christmas purchases?
Over half of those who shopped online were offered free delivery on all or the majority of their
purchases
27% 28% 27%
19%
Yes, on all items Yes, on majority Yes, only some No

18. 18
Q. Roughly what proportion of the Christmas gifts you bought online were
from websites/sellers outside Ireland, what proportion in Ireland?
Most of the online Christmas shopping expenditure was on overseas websites
Websites
outside
Ireland
57%
Irish
Websites
43%

19. 19
Females are more likely than males to purchase form websites/sellers in Ireland
43% 39% 46% 43% 45% 41% 42% 42% 43% 43%
57% 60% 53% 58% 54% 59% 55% 57% 57% 56%
Purchased
online
Male Female 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+ ABC1 C2DE
In Ireland Outside Ireland
Q. Roughly what proportion of the Christmas gifts you bought online were
from websites/sellers outside Ireland, what proportion in Ireland?

20. 20
On average, males get the lowest number of gifts delivered to their homes before Christmas.
8
6
8 8 8 8
9
7 7
8
Purchased
online
Male Female 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+ ABC1 C2DE
Q. Approximately how many gifts you ordered online were delivered to your
home in the weeks before Christmas?

21. Online shopping looks set to
continue its rise into 2017 and
beyond.
Growing delivery options have
made online shopping even
easier than before.
We forecast that online
Christmas shopping will break
through the €1 billion level in
2018/2019.

22. Trends Report
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