December is the harvest time of virtual trading and is the most profitable period for online companies. According to Deloitte reports, only 30% of Poles declared purchasing gifts in November or earlier, which is 3% more than a year ago. At the same time, the importance of shopping in e-commerce is growing – this year as much as 44% of the money intended for gifts will be left in online shops. A year earlier, Poles spent 42% of their Christmas shopping budget online.
Paweł Wyborski, the CEO of QuarticOn, says:
The fast growth rate of spending on the online channel is an important and clear signal for online store owners to intensify their hunting for customers. All the more so as this year Poles plan to spend on average 1168 PLN on holidays. Santa Claus, Christmas and New Year’s Eve are the time when the winners are those online retailers who have prepared their e-shops for a sales boom in advance. We are talking, among others, about sales solutions, using the benefits of artificial intelligence, able to increase sales by another dozen or so percent.
This year, the average Polish family will spend PLN 286 more than last year, which is a 6% increase in the budget in relation to actual spending in 2017. Poles also declare that they will spend a little more on gifts than on food. The first category will consume about 45% of the Christmas budget, while the second category will consume 44% of the Christmas budget.
Buyers (77%) believe that online shopping has an unquestionable advantage and are more transparent than traditional forms of sale. Why? The Internet provides an opportunity to find out what other consumers think about products. What’s more, as many as 3 out of 4 buyers mentioned the possibility of making purchases at any time and door-to-door delivery. Over 70% of Poles appreciate the possibility of comparing prices of products in different shops. We also believe that online shopping is less time-consuming than standard shopping in crowded shopping centres.
Paweł Wyborski also adds:
Customers have been appreciating the benefits of online shopping for years. Introducing the Christmas atmosphere into the graphic design of the online store, creating dedicated product categories, special Christmas promotions and using AI to provide them with products that are tailored to their needs will certainly translate into higher profits.
This year, as in previous years, buyers will decide on cosmetics and perfumes. Then they will buy sweets and books. A year earlier, the order between the two categories was reversed. Polish Santa Claus is the king of promotion – as many as 54% of buyers indicate the price reduction as the main factor influencing the purchase decision. Poles seek inspiration for gifts not only on promotional labels but also on forums and blogs (24%). In comparison to Europe, Poles are more likely to exceed the assumed budget for Christmas expenses – in 2017 more than half of the respondents declared that they exceeded the original budget by more than PLN 200.
