Nothing will stop Australian women from spending according to a new study from The Heat Group.
The Heat Poll of 520 women indicates that despite the subdued consumer confidence, nearly two thirds (63 per cent) of Australian women still plan to spend the same amount on gifts as they did last year and 11 per cent plan to spend more.
With saying that, there are some women feeling the pinch with 19 per cent planning to spend less on Christmas gifts compared to last year while 7 per cent are not sure how much they will spend.
Gillian Franklin, founder and managing director of The Heat Group said while a majority of women are planning to spend the same amount it is believed that they will make their budgets stretch further than previous years.
“Women are becoming more and more shopping savvy, and they are taking the time to seek out value for money,” she said.
The study also found that online shopping will play a big role in Christmas shopping as 69 per cent of women plan to do their shopping online.
While many women are avoiding the Christmas crush by shopping online, there are still some women who are yet to embrace online shopping, 31 per cent of women indicated they would not be shopping online for Christmas gifts at all this year.
“There are women who still prefer to shop in store and we have noticed that bricks and mortar retailers have introduced additional marketing activities, not always seen at Christmas time, to compete with online shopping. Activities such as increased rewards for loyal customers, an increase in VIP shopping events and pre-Christmas discounts, product sampling and entertainment, are being used to enhance the shopping experience,” says Gillian.