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Czechs’ Buying Habits To Be More Conservative This Christmas

As expected, the economic crisis will affect Czech Christmas shopping behaviour this year. More than half of all Czechs plan to spend approximately the same amount of money as last year. Compared to previous years, more people will shop based on a budget and more attention will be paid to the practicality and value for money. In addition, compared to the rest of Europe, Czechs will once again do most of their gift shopping online. These results are taken from Deloitte’s 2009 Christmas Survey which was published today.

Last year 75% of Czech respondents said that the financial crisis would have no direct impact on them, whereas only 50% share the same opinion this year. Because of the crisis, Czechs will take a more cautious approach to gift buying this year. Two years ago, a third of Czech consumers had a budget. However, given the increased focus on planning and practicality, as many as 45% of Czechs intend to prepare a budget.

“A year ago, many Europeans’ Christmas shopping was limited due to the economic crisis. Whereas this year, certain signs of improvement are apparent, mainly in some western European countries,” says Deloitte Partner, Martin Tesař.

As many as 28% of Czech respondents are planning to spend less on Christmas presents than last year, 51% are expecting to spend about the same, and 21% would like to spend more money for Christmas shopping than last year. These results are comparable to the European average. Major spending limitations on Christmas presents are expected in Ireland, with 44% of respondents planning to spend less. This is a change from previous years, where the Irish were among the biggest spenders.

“Traditionally, books are the most common present under Czech Christmas trees. This year, books are the most desired present in many other European countries as well. The other most desired gifts this year include clothes, cosmetics and money,” says Bronislav Pánek, Deloitte Partner.

In addition to traditional department stores and hypermarkets, online shopping is becoming increasingly popular in the Czech Republic. As many as 41% of Czech respondents intend to buy Christmas gifts or services online, while the European average is only 16%. Compared to Germans, for example, who usually buy their Christmas presents months in advance, Czechs plan to postpone their shopping until the post-Christmas sales.

General Information on the Survey:

The survey was carried out in 17 European countries and in South Africa, where consumer spending is comparable to other countries included in the survey (for the first time, the survey was carried out in Poland and Luxemburg). This year marks the survey’s 12th year and the 3rd year of participation by Deloitte Czech Republic. As many as 17,567 respondents were surveyed using a structured internet questionnaire.

The survey criteria were as follows:

• Gender (equal to the population distribution)
• Age (18-65 years of age)
• Region
• Income

The underlying data for this study were gained on the basis of a survey carried out by Deloitte in cooperation with Q&A Research and Consultancy.

The survey was carried out between the last week of September and the first week of October 2009.

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