ROME, ITALY – Foodstuffs are the most popular Christmas present in Italy, with 74.7% of shoppers spending money on them, followed by clothing, (46.2%) and toys (45.4%), according to a survey by the Confcommercio retailers’ association together with Format research.
Spending on travel is up 4% compared to 2014, while books are up 2.4% and personal wellbeing spending, which went down last year, is up by 4.4% this year.
Fewer people are buying smartphones, but more are buying videogames and computers while the overall percentage of consumers who plan to buy Christmas presents is stable at 85.9%.
Average spending per head for Christmas will be 5% up compared to last year, with 56% of people buying gifts in traditional shops and 75.3% buying in big chain stores.
In terms of total budget, 95.2% of consumers will not spend more than 300 euros on presents, the survey showed.
More people this year will spend between 100 and 300 euros, 62.4% compared to 61.9% last year.
Average spending this year is expected to be higher slightly, 166 euros rather than 158 euros last year, the survey said.
Most marked this year is use of the Web for buying Christmas presents with 39.6% saying they will buy theirs on Internet compared to 3.8% in 2009. Of those, 26.9% will choose clothing, 21.9% books, 16.3% children’s toys, and 15.3% cellphones and smartphones.