For many Poles, the period of preparation for Christmas is largely associated with shopping. After all, not only do you have to prepare Christmas gifts for your loved ones, but also take care of proper grocery and cosmetic purchases, buy household chemicals or winter clothing.
Some consumers admit that they buy Christmas shopping (usually gifts) in September! What and in what quantity do Poles buy for Christmas?
More and more expenses from year to year
Of course, the amount of Christmas spending depends on many factors: individual preferences or the size of households and family members. Nevertheless, the estimated average of the costs incurred for pre-holiday shopping is about PLN 1700, with a constant upward trend. As shown by various consumer surveys, from 30% to 36% of this amount Poles most often spend on gifts for their relatives, a similar value (from 34% to 40%) is achieved by grocery shopping.
What is changing in the pre-holiday shopping trend, except for the increase in the amount spent? Traders have observed that Poles are increasingly buying online. And although this mainly applies to gifts (among which electronics, computer games and toys such as LEGO are increasingly dominant) or holiday decorations, food purchases are also slowly starting to be made online. Poles also buy food products for Christmas more often at discounters (compared to other periods of the year).
What else are pre-holiday expenses allocated to? About 21% of them are travel costs and 4% are other expenses related to social events. After all, Christmas is a traditional time of visits, meetings that need to be traveled to and that it is not appropriate to come empty handed. Or at least it has been so far, as 2020 may be significantly different from previous years due to the pandemic.
The most frequently purchased food products
Research shows that before Christmas, Poles spend about 20% more on food products than in other periods of the year. And although they buy more, they try to save anyway, letting themselves be tempted by various promotions. There was also a tendency to buy more expensive products (which are not always purchased at other times) or those associated with high quality (Wedel chocolates, Coca-Cola).
What products most often go to the Pole's basket before Christmas? The most common (and - interestingly - usually unplanned!) Item is sweets. Poles usually make a decision to buy them spontaneously, seeing products on store shelves. After all, the festive edition of Milki chocolate, a large Rafaello package or a mega pack of Kit Katów is the perfect addition to a gift for loved ones.
Products bought well in advance are also alcohol and coffee, which are one of the types of Christmas gifts. Here, too, more expensive, higher-quality products are purchased. Among the coffees, Lavazza and Jacobs are the most popular. In the case of alcohol, the sale of beers is lower, and more expensive vodkas, wines or Whiskey, which are becoming more and more popular, are becoming a kind of Christmas gift.
Eating is invariably important
Of course, a large part of your grocery expenses is spent on fish, vegetables or ingredients needed to make other festive dishes. Poles buy Winiary spices, Knorr broths or Bakalland products. They also stock up on juices and other refreshing drinks (Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Schweppes). And all this to be able to celebrate holiday moments and make them a special moment during the year.
Do you want to place an order for groceries, sweets or alcohol? Contact us and we will prepare the best comprehensive offer on the market for you!