Christmas gift budget higher this year according to survey
Keystone-SDA
According to a survey, Swiss consumers intend to spend an average of CHF341 ($425) on gifts this year, around a fifth more than last year.
According to the analysis published on Thursday by the consulting firm EY, gift vouchers and money are the most frequently given gifts. This is followed by toys and foodstuffs such as confectionery. However, clothing, books and cosmetics are also still popular.
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According to the study, the majority of purchases are still made in shops. Customers want to spend CHF215 on average in bricks-and-mortar shops and CHF126 francs online.
While a good third (34%) stated that they only shop in stores, slightly fewer people (29%) only shop online. The rest either search online first and buy in-store or vice versa.
AI hardly used
Only a small number of respondents rely on artificial intelligence (AI) when selecting and purchasing gifts. Only 15% stated that AI plays an important role in the decision-making process for gifts. A third rated assistance such as chatbots as rather unimportant and a whopping 53 per cent described AI as “completely unimportant” in relation to gift selection.
According to the survey, 790 adult consumers in Switzerland were questioned in November.
Adapted from German by DeepL/ac
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