The crisis is still raging

LG Electronics ’research on this year’s Christmas purchases has been completed. The survey shows a significant decline in planned purchases of consumer electronics and telecommunications products - down from 43% last year to 35% - so the impact of the economic crisis can be felt even this Christmas.

Of the electronic devices, the smaller ones are more popular, and the proportion of those who will buy the gift online has increased compared to last year.

In 2012, LG Electronics also conducted a Christmas online questionnaire survey on the purchase of electronic products. The sample consisted of 2054 individuals consisting of a mix of women and men with A, B, or C1 status, representing the 18-59 age group. Of the respondents who represent a representative base of Internet users, 45% were male and 55% were female. Nearly half of the sample - 45% - are people living in Budapest or a county town, and 52% of the respondents have a per capita monthly income of over HUF 100. *

When do we start preparing?

Preparations for Christmas began in a third of respondents (32%) as early as 6 weeks before the holidays. 28% and 27% of those who go on a shopping trip 4-5 or 2-3 weeks earlier, and only 4% leave shopping for the last week. Typically, young men reinforce the camp of those who postpone shopping for the week or days before the holidays, or give away at all.

How many people do we give gifts to?

Survey participants will again be buying gifts for at least 4-6 people this year, but more for more. If we look at the results in more detail, it turns out that 32% of the respondents donate 7-10 and 26% of 4-6 family members-acquaintances for Christmas. Despite the unfavorable economic situation, these figures are the same as last year. Men expect fewer gifts than members of the better sex: 27% of men plan to buy gifts for 3-4 people, 27% also for 4-6 people and 28% for 7-10 people, the same for women 16%, 26% and 34%. An even more significant difference can be observed for those with more than 10 gifted people. For men, this is only 7%, but for women it is 21%, which can be explained by the common habit that women usually buy gifts for common acquaintances and family members. In terms of age, younger people - 16-29 year olds - give the largest proportion to 10 or more people.

What do we buy?

Christmas’s hit products include perfumes, books, toys, clothes year after year, and only then do various electronic items follow. It’s no different this year either: with the exception of books, a decline is expected in all hit categories. 5 percentage points fewer respondents plan to donate electronic products compared to 43% last year. In the survey, 15% indicated household products, 14% consumer electronics and computer products, and only 9% plan to buy a telecommunications device - the latter, of course, with strong male dominance.

In detail, household electronics are expected to be chosen by the youngest age group - 16-29 years old - in the highest percentage (22%), and in terms of gender ratio, more men are planning to buy them, presumably for their spouses.

Consumer electronics also dedicate far more men (23%) to Christmas than women (9%), which is not surprising. Furthermore, it is mainly the 30 to 50 year olds and those living in the county seat who plan to surprise their loved ones with such a gift.

Procurement of computer and telecommunications items based on the responses will also be typical for men and the 40-50 age group.

Taking a closer look at each category, we count all family members when buying consumer electronics, while when we buy consumer electronics, we think primarily of children, spouses, and only then parents. In the latter category, the child was said by 94%, the spouse by 84% and the parent by 56%. The same proportion can be observed for computing and telecommunications equipment.

Compared to 2011, the top list of the most popular consumer electronics items has not changed: the robot / stick mixer, coffee maker and electric toothbrush lead the ranking. In contrast, fewer, more expensive household appliances are chosen by few for Christmas. Microwave, for example, 7%, washing machine and air conditioning only 2-2%. The products most often chosen as gifts vary according to age groups, while the favorite of 16-29 and 30-39 year olds is the electric toothbrush, while the 40-49 age group will buy a robot / stick mixer for their loved ones.

For consumer electronics products, the formula is not that simple. There is also room for lower value products and accessories such as earphones, memory cards, mp3 players. Last year, 36% of respondents planned to donate such devices, but this year, 45% already. Responses predict a larger decline in higher-value products, with the proportion of those who schedule TV shopping as a gift for Christmas falling from 25% last year to 18%. A DVD player, microhifi and home cinema system are among the planned gifts to a similar extent as last year. Televisions, whether plasma, LCD, or LED, will be acquired mostly by people over the age of 50 (22%), just like last year. Interestingly, in this respect, different age groups are getting closer and closer to each other. The 40-49 age group gave up 18% of TVs as a gift to be purchased, and those aged 30-39 counted 16% on this product as a possible alternative. The planned purchase of smaller electronic devices is typical of all ages, but it is striking that 40% of the 49-64 age group indicated this.

Planned spending

As in the past year, when filling out the questionnaire, a significant proportion of respondents, nearly half this year, have not yet been able to say how much they will spend on electronic products. Among those who already knew, there are almost the same proportion (13, 14 and 14%) who plan to spend between 10 and 25, between 25 and 50, or more than 50 thousand forints. Slightly less than the above are planned to spend less than HUF 10 on Christmas gifts (11%). The average amount spent on electronic gifts is HUF 53, which is HUF 3 less than last year. This figure is in line with the fact that fewer (40%) are planning to buy more value compared to last year.

In terms of age group, 40-49 year olds are the most uncertain about the amount they intend to spend this year, which was most typical of 50-59 year olds last year. Young people aged 16-29 plan to spend the most this year, 24% of them spend more than HUF 50. This is in line with the fact that 48% of them said they plan to spend much more this year than last year. Men will spend less on electronic products this year (only 6% will spend more than 50 forints), despite the fact that most of them (26%) will spend much more than last year. Last year, men tied with 40-49 year olds were still the most spending group.

“Looking at the results of the Christmas research, we look forward to Christmas. This year, the European Football Championship and the Olympic season have been particularly successful for us in terms of television sales, and I am confident that interest in our devices will remain unbroken during the Christmas period. ” - said Krisztián Szili, regional consumer electronics marketing manager of LG Electronics Magyar Kft.

Where do we find information and where do we shop?

In terms of where we collect the information we need to make a purchase about a particular electronic device, the internet is clearly the determining factor. The list is led by online specialist sites (66%), followed by various forums, blogs (46%) and manufacturer sites (40%) all ahead of in-store orientation (39%). Although half of the respondents still buy in major electronics specialty stores in Hungary, the number of online gift buyers has increased this year, from 28% last year to 39%. Online shopping is becoming more common. Nearly 70% of those surveyed said they used to buy electronics online, but that number drops to 55% at Christmas.

Cash or credit card

The three age groups from 18 to 49 choose cash payment in almost the same proportion (43%). People aged 30-39 and 40-49 will pay similarly by credit card (55%) and bank transfer (1-3%), compared to younger 18-29 year olds, for whom this proportion shifts in favor of bank transfer payment (13%). This is presumably explained by the fact that, unlike other age groups, they prefer to shop online.

Half of those surveyed did not yet know exactly what they were going to fund Christmas gifts from. Of those who already knew, most of them farm from their own resources (17%) or several add up the purchase price (24%), and only a layer below 10% intends to take out a loan for this purpose. There has not been much change in this respect compared to last year.