Heating bills may adjust gift budget
A survey of the Baltic population conducted for the international parcel company Venipak showed that rising inflation is forcing people to plan their purchases more carefully, but only 9% of Lithuanians, the same number of Estonians and just over 10% of Latvians plan to cut their Christmas gift budgets significantly.
The most common gift budgets in the Baltic States are between €101 and €200. In Lithuania, the same proportion (31%) of respondents plan to spend between €51 and €100. 17% of Lithuanians, 11% of Latvians and 16% of Estonians will spend up to €500. Another 11% of Lithuanians, 13% of Estonians and 19% of Latvians said they want to wait for the first heating bill before planning to spend on gifts.
"We are always monitoring changes in consumers' habits, especially in the current period, in order to be able to respond to their needs as much as possible. The aim of the survey was to find out how the Baltic population will tend to shop this year. The results showed that Lithuanians and Estonians will prioritise online shopping, with 29% of Lithuanians and 21% of Estonians choosing this answer. In Latvia, shoppers are more likely to go to physical stores (33%), but interestingly they will still look for discounts online (25%).
It is worth noting that almost all shoppers, without exception, look forward to promotions and discounts, which is not surprising. In the face of rising inflation, people still want to get in the festive mood," says Asta Raudonienė, Marketing Manager at Venipak.
Shopping should not be delayed
If you've already decided how much you can spend on gifts, Asta Raudonienė recommends that you don't delay your purchases. According to the survey, only 5% of respondents in Lithuania and Estonia, and 4% in Latvia, have already taken care of their holiday gifts. Many more, 17%, 21% and 13% respectively, have not yet planned their shopping.
"Although it may seem that Christmas is a time for shopping, it is also a time for giving. Christmas is still a long way off, but shopping is already picking up, and we will soon see Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and other festive discounts, which are becoming increasingly popular in the Baltics, when shopping, especially on the internet, will become even more intense.
You should not put off shopping until the last weeks before the holidays. Every year we carefully prepare for the season by expanding our delivery infrastructure, but the goods you want may simply be out of stock at retailers. Not only could you spoil the Christmas mood, but you could end up paying more for last-minute purchases," says Raudonienė.
According to the company, the number of online orders for toys, cosmetics and beauty products, clothing and food supplements or vitamins is increasing, while organic food products are also gaining popularity. As usual, Lithuanians are happy to buy books online.
Survey commissioned by Venipak in October this year. Norstat, a research company, conducted the research in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia for Vipak this October.
