39% of Brits say COVID-19 has caused them to reassess Christmas spending habits

Almost two thirds of Brits have organised Christmas shopping and finances in 2020 so they can avoid the extremes such as panic buying, according to a recent study by Clearpay.

The poll of 2,000 adult consumers found that shoppers are more money-conscious than ever this Christmas, leading to a rise in mindful purchasing when it comes to shopping.

• 33% confirmed they started saving at least three months in advance of Christmas 2020
• One in five people said that they have changed the way they pay this year, with many adopting new types of budgeting tools such as buy now, pay later services.

The survey identified seven different types of Christmas shoppers: the Last Minute Shopper, the Organised shopper, the Budget focussed shopper, the Trend-led shopper, the Ethical shopper, the Recreational shopper and the Personalised shopper.

The two most popular were the Organised Shopper (24%) and the Budget Focussed Shopper (23%), accounting for almost half of the respondents, with 27% choosing to do their Christmas shopping entirely online.

The poll also found that shoppers had become even more budget focussed this Christmas, with 23% saying it was the most important factor in buying presents this season.

Almost 1/3 of those surveyed opted to buy gifts throughout the year to spread the cost and manage finances, with 1 in 10 doing Christmas shopping in the January sales.

Brits have budgeted on average £458 on gifts, though 20% expect to go up to £1,000 or more. Of those Christmas shoppers, twice as many people now use debit cards rather than credit to pay for Christmas, with ‘buy now pay later’ now taking 15% of sales.

39% of the respondents also said that 2020 and the pandemic caused them to reassess their spending habits for Christmas this year and seek more responsible budgeting methods.