Many shoppers did not go to a specific destination for their shopping, with 40% saying that they made their gift purchases whenever they found the perfect item.
"The results of the survey show that South Africans are increasingly counting on rewards programmes to add value, particularly at a time of the year when expectations are high, but pressure on personal finances are even higher," says Jaco Oosthuizen, CEO of Multiply, the wellness and rewards programme offered by Momentum.
15% of respondents buy their gifts online, with nearly one third of those clicking to complete their festive season purchases during the first half of December. 22% of respondents do their festive season shopping online throughout the year, with 14% leaving it to the last possible minute.
The most popular gift category was the 'home and lifestyle' category, with a little more than half of respondents saying that they would buy these gifts. "This also goes to show that shoppers are thinking along more practical lines, purchasing gifts that will add value to the everyday lives of recipients. The next most popular category was toys and games, with 19% of respondents purchasing these, followed by technology.
"South African festive season shoppers are being careful with their spending this year, with just over one third saying that they will spend between up to R250 on gifts for members of their extended family. Thirteen percent of respondents are not buying gifts for their extended family at all."
Of the respondents that have children, and that are buying gifts for them, nearly half will purchase between two and five gifts for their offspring, while one third will buy their child a single, large gift. Of those buying gifts for their children, one third will spend between R500 and R1000 on each child, with a further one third spending between R250 and R500.
Respondents spend more money on their partners than they spend on their children, with 29% saying that they will spend more than R1000 on a gift for their significant other and a further 29% saying that they will spend between R500 and R1000.
"This year has been a tough one for consumers, but they're increasingly wising up to the benefits of rewards programmes, and how they can reduce festive season financial pressures by using programme discounts and vouchers. They're also planning their shopping carefully by budgeting ahead of their shopping expeditions and using their rewards programme discounts and vouchers, with only 12% saying that they anticipate overextending their credit cards," concludes Oosthuizen.
The Multiply Festive Season Survey ran on News24.com between 17 November and 2 December 2014, with 76% of respondents were female, 24% of respondents were male.
