Marketing News: Webtrends : one-in-four (23%) savvy online shoppers or ‘Christmas Cheaters,’ will make use of websites to find out what their partner has bought them for Christmas

News Release from: MarketingUK
21/12/2009
Webtrends,‘Christmas Cheaters,Colette Wade, Loudhouse,Amelia Wise,Bloom Psychology ,

A recent survey of 1,000 Britons, commissioned by Webtrends, showed that one-in-four (23%) savvy online shoppers or 'Webtrends,' will make use of websites to find out what their partner has bought them for Christmas.

Gone are the days when people spent time shaking and squeezing their presents before Christmas day, now you can simply visit the website that your significant other shopped at and find out straight away.

The Cheaters' Charter

Still taboo? Almost a quarter of people (24%) agree that it is okay to buy presents from the internet whilst pretending that it was bought from a shop.

The Second Coming: 37% of people think that second-hand online purchases are appropriate as gifts, so some of us may not be the first to open a particular present this Christmas.

It's the thought that counts: Vouchers for sites such as Amazon are a popular gift option, almost two-thirds (64%) of adults feel that it's acceptable to give them to loved ones as a present.

No really, you shouldn't have: 16% of us will look to sell unwanted gifts on sites such as eBay

Seasonal spoilers: 15% have accidentally stumbled across information revealing what their partners have bought for them online

Colette Wade, Marketing Director of Webtrends comments: “People have become more sophisticated in all of their online activities, shopping included. So when you have the expertise, casting an eye over a web history or 'recent purchases' page to find out what our loved ones have bought us for Christmas, and even how much they spent, can be difficult to resist. The serious issue for site owners is gaining a meaningful insight into the idiosyncrasies of browsing behaviour to ensure that the shopping experience works for each individual visitor. However as the 15% who accidentally found details of their gifts discovered, there is also a line to be drawn when offering information designed to improve that experience; especially when individuals sharing a computer buy from the same site.”

Online get-together

Computers and technology are an integral part of seasonal festivities and the Webtrends survey, conducted by independent research company Loudhouse, shows that we will be spending a good deal of Christmas day online. Many of us will be using the internet to stay in contact with friends and absent family; 60% will be checking our emails and 41% of us will use a social media site on 25th December. And online shopping doesn’t stop on the big day itself, when 26% of people will continue to shop online.  

Sneaky multi-taskers

Remember the time when people used to book a day off to get the Christmas shopping done? Not anymore; over half of the working population (52%) will research Christmas purchases at work and 46% of workers will buy Christmas presents online whilst at work. But people don’t like to flaunt the fact; 64% of people will discreetly do their Christmas research in the workplace, with a further 33% of people slyly doing some shopping online.

How much to spend?

42% of people will be spending more on their loved ones than in previous years and only 18% of people say that they will spend less this year; showing that the economic downturn hasn’t affected the amount that we will be spending on those closest to us this Christmas.

Further Cheatistics

The survey showed that the profile of a ‘Christmas Cheater’ is a man aged between 24-34 years old from London. They are not alone however as parents also fall into the same group, they are the most likely to purchase a present from the internet and pretend they got it from a shop – 36% of parents in opposition to 17% of non-parents – will do this. The archetypical non-cheater is a Welsh woman aged between 35-44 years old.

Amelia Wise a Chartered Psychologist and founder of Bloom Psychology comments, “Perhaps men want to know what’s been bought for them by their partner so they can make an informed decision about what they buy in return. The findings suggest that men are less confident in their judgement of what is an appropriate gift for their partner, be this in terms of the type or the cost, so in order to buy an appropriate gift they need to do this elicit ‘research’ to help them out.”

So, even the Christmas cheater has a water-tight excuse for searching for their gift this Christmas...