14 Dec ‘Twas the month before Christmas….
Recently, Insightrix Research independently ran a survey from November 26 to December 3, 2018, to find out more about whether the stockings in Saskatchewan were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.
Residents share their insights on their holiday purchase intentions, including how much they plan to spend, where they plan to purchase gifts and their online holiday shopping behaviours in 2018.
Of those surveyed…
93% of Saskatchewan residents say they plan to purchase holiday gifts this year.
And as the prairie children were all nestled snug in their beds, some seniors and grandparents (55+) decided they did not want to bend.
“Purchase gifts?” they said, with a big hefty sigh… Since 14% don’t intend to purchase gifts – perhaps call grandma tonight?
Some Saskatchewan residents had clear visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads… 43% of those who intend to purchase gifts in Saskatchewan admit they will treat themselves to a gift. Perhaps some new threads?
Parents (84%) with one or more children in the household – on the other hand – agree they plan to spend less on themselves around the holidays than those with no children (78%), and that seems planned.
Women (84%) who intend to purchase gifts also agree they plan to spend less on themselves… while youth aged 18 to 34 diverge (24%) from this sentiment and say they disagree. Perhaps they still believe in the help of magical elves?
Of those who intend to purchase gifts…
Of the men surveyed, 59% disagree that they love the holiday shopping experience, while 53% of women agree the holiday shopping experience is something they love.
Younger generations also seem to be more excited to shop around the holidays – those aged 18 to 34 (47%) and those aged 35 to 54 (46%) agree that they also love the holiday shopping experience. Compare this to the grumpy ole matures (55+) – 52% of them disagree that holiday shopping is something they love.
Of those who intend to purchase gifts this year…
Most residents (80%) feel their dollar will not stretch as far as it did last year. Further, 8 in 10 matures (55+) agree their dollar will not stretch as well as least year, either.
Those with children in the household believe their dollar won’t stretch as far as it did last year (77%) compared to 82% of those with no children in the household who feel the same. Perhaps everyone is feeling the pinch of the season this year?
In the busy holiday season, there is a culprit among us tipping the stress scale for residents – gift giving.
Seventy-two percent (72%) of those who intend to purchase gifts this year say they agree that paying for the holiday season makes the holidays a stressful time of year.
According to the survey, 3 out of 10 men disagree (33%) that paying for the holiday season makes it a stressful time of year, compared to a quarter of women (24%). Could it be that fathers enjoy the gift giving portion of the holiday!?
A majority of those aged 35 to 54 also agree (76%) paying for the holiday season makes it a stressful time of year, and 62% of those aged 55+ say the same.
Saskatchewan residents also don’t necessarily save money throughout the year for holiday purchases – with 33% of those who intend to purchase gifts this holiday admit they do not save money to help fund gift giving.
The survey also found that most Saskatchewan residents who intend to purchase gifts will do so with a major credit card (44%).
As much as we like to complain about Christmas and the wisdom of last-minute holiday shopping – according to the survey, 26% of those who intend to purchase gifts say they have done most of their holiday shopping already.
Another 41% say expect to do most of their shopping in the first half of December (Dec. 1 to 15) – and 1% even admit they expect to do their shopping on Boxing Day!
But why do we wait this long…?
According to Saskatchewan consumers, we are little ole procrastinators (35), who are indecisive (43%) and too busy (30%), who also need to save money up to Christmas (19%), while waiting for discounts (18%), and who would rather shop around Christmas because it is A PART OF THE TRADITION!
Of those who intend to purchase gifts…
Two in ten (20%) consumers say they do about a half of their holiday gift shopping online.
The younger generation plan to do more of their shopping online with a quarter (25%) of those aged 18 to 34 saying they plan to do about half of their holiday shopping online.
However, 23% of Saskatchewan consumers say they do not plan to do any of their holiday gift shopping online. Respectively, a good portion (38%) of the older generation (55+) say they also don’t plan to do any online shopping for holiday gifts.
How they will shop online was another question to put – as many online shopping plans now were afoot. Forty-four percent (44%) plan to use a desktops or laptops to make their online holiday shopping purchases, 42% plan to use their smartphones and 18% plan to use their tablets.
When asked what physical retailers Saskatchewan residents like to purchase from online during the holidays, 38% state Walmart is their No. 1 choice. This is followed by Best Buy (23%), Costco (23%), Canadian Tire (22%), Chapters Indigo (18%) and Toys R Us (16%).
Though Walmart is the top physical retailer Saskatchewan residents like to purchase from online – Amazon, by far, is the most desired internet retailer to purchase gifts from in Saskatchewan. 83% say they intend to use Amazon to purchase gifts for family and friends.
The younger generation (ages 18 to 34) are also more inclined to shop online, with 8 in 10 saying they plan to use Amazon to purchase gifts this year.
A major motivator for Saskatchewan residents to shop online is to avoid the crowds during the holiday (64%). Saskatoon residents feel an even bigger need to avoid crowds (74%).
Other reasons cited in the survey include free shipping (53%), a wider product range (51%), more convenience (44%), more discounted items compared to in store (38%), direct shipping to someone who lives elsewhere (20%) and no sales tax (5%).
Research Details
A total of 801 randomly selected SaskWatch Research® panel members participated in the online research study between November 26 and December 3, 2018. Surveys were distributed in English language format only. Quotas were set by age, gender and region to match the general population of the province; therefore, the data did not need to be weighted.
About Insightrix
Founded in 2001, Insightrix Research Inc. is a full-service market research firm that helps clients develop, administer, and manage data collection and information strategies. From its office in Saskatoon, Insightrix offers a comprehensive range of research services.
About SaskWatch Research®
Insightrix began developing its SaskWatch Research online market research panel in October 2007, using high quality techniques including telephone recruitment and referrals from existing panel members. Presently, there are over 18,000 active panel members representing all regions of the province and distributions of the general population. Panel membership closely matches the 2016 Census, based on age, gender, household composition, household income and education. For more information, please visit http://saskwatch.ca.
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