SCA Research's annual Christmas Insights Report looks at what people will buy, when, where, how, what influences them to purchase and the importance and ever growing area of online shopping at Christmas time. It shows that at Christmas, people generally underestimate how much they spend, and start their Christmas shopping earlier than many people expect...

3. Australians spent up big at Christmas in 2013, and are likely to do the same this Christmas!
Source : Commonwealth Bank of Australia via http://www.smh.com.au/business/retail/18b-in-christmas-spending-20131213-2zauy.html

4. The SCA audience will be worth approximately $8 billion this Christmas!
Source : SCA Post Christmas Study Jan2014, ‘I spent more than I intended to this Christmas’ Agree; ‘Now regardless of whether you bought gifts or not, how much do you estimate you spent over the Christmas/Summer period on food, other groceries, alcohol, gifts, travel and entertainment?’ n+=3520; gFk Survey #5, Mon-Sun 0530-2400
38%
Over 1 in 3 SCA listeners spent more than what they intended to last Christmas.
(compared with 31% of non-SCA listeners).
So while many may say they are ‘cutting down’ this year, likelihood is they will get caught up in the Christmas spirit and spend more than they intend to.
The majority of SCA listeners spent more than $1000 on everything related to Christmas in 2013.
That means the SCA audience will be worth approximately $8 billion this Christmas season!
Less than $100
$100 to $1,000
$1,000 to $2,500
$2,500 to $5,000
$5,000 to $7,500
$7,500 to $10,000
More than $10,000
4%
42%
31%
16%
4%
2%
2%

5. SCA listeners are keen on buying presents and will buy a broad range of gifts.
Source : SCA Post Christmas Study Jan2014, ‘Did you buy any Christmas gifts for Christmas 2013?’ N=2652 ; SCA Christmas Additional Study Sep2014, ‘What types of gifts do you think you will purchase for people this Christmas?’ N=1063
Gift Card
54%
Clothing
50%
Toys
48%
Sml Electrical
39%
Jewellery
32%
Books
32%
Cash
31%
Beauty Prod
28%
Kitchen items
17%
Home Decs
16%
Food
16%
Gift Basket
15%
Experiences
15%
Lge Electrical
9%
Flowers
8%

6. The SCA radio audience spend more than what they intend to on gifts.
93%
Source : SCA Post Christmas Study Jan2014, ‘Before Christmas, many people had an idea in mind of how much they would spend on presents. However, we know it’s hard to stick to a set amount! So – how much did you intend to spend on Christmas presents and how much did you actually spend? N=3520
Try as they might to stick to a budget, the SCA radio audience consistently spends more than what they intend to on Christmas presents each year.
So cutting down on spending might be the intention this Christmas, but it’s likely they will actually end up spending more than they planned to.

7. The SCA digital audience spend more than what they intend to on gifts.
93%
Source : SCA Post Christmas Study Jan2014, ‘IBefore Christmas, many people had an idea in mind of how much they would spend on presents. However, we know it’s hard to stick to a set amount! So – how much did you intend to spend on Christmas presents and how much did you actually spend? Filtered by ‘visit SCA website’ N=226
The SCA digital audience seems to be no better at sticking to their budget either.
Whether they underestimate how much Christmas is going to cost or simply get caught up in the Christmas spirit, it looks like the SCA digital audience will again be spending more than what they intend to on gifts this Christmas.

8. At the end of the day though, the SCA audience are not spending what they don’t have – they’re using cash and debit cards rather than credit cards.
Source : SCA Post Christmas Study Jan2014, ‘And how did you pay for most of your Christmas presents this year? ‘N=2468

9. Shoppers start looking and purchasing online earlier than they do in store
Source : SCA Post Christmas Study Jan2014, ‘And again thinking about Christmas gifts, when did you start LOOKING for Christmas gifts in 2013 and when did you actually start PURCHASING presents?’ n=3267

10. SCA Listeners are influenced by a variety of media when deciding what gifts to buy for people.
Source : SCA Post Christmas Study Jan2014, ‘So when deciding what gifts to buy for people, where did you get your inspiration from?’ n=3267

11. “These days you can see advertising everywhere. Everywhere you go, there is an advertisement, from the big screen (tv) to the little screen (smartphone), you can't miss an advertisement anywhere.”
“Christmas sales advertised showed me things I may not have bought otherwise.”
Source : SCA Post Christmas Study Jan2014, ‘So now thinking about ALL the things you bought the Christmas just gone, would you say you were INFLUENCED by ADVERTISING when buying the following items? n=3267

12. Most SCA listeners do their shopping in shopping centres – but almost half are shopping online as well.
Source : SCA Post Christmas Study Jan2014, ‘Where did you end up doing your Christmas shopping?’ n=3267; ‘Could you please tell us if you agree or disagree with the following statements about Christmas: : I did more of my Christmas shopping online this year ‘ N=2652; SCA Christmas Additional Study Sep2014, ‘I plan on doing more of my Christmas shopping online this year’ N=1140
of SCA listeners did more of their Christmas shopping online in 2013 than the previous year, and we can expect that to grow again this year.

13. Source : SCA Post Christmas Study Jan2014, ‘So you said that you did some of your Christmas shopping online. A little more specifically, what percentage of your CHRISTMAS shopping do you think you did in store and on-line?’ & ‘Did you do your online shopping on Australian or International (overseas) shopping websites?’ n=3267

14. Online shopping is attractive for the convenience and variety – and of course to save money.
Source : SCA Post Christmas Study Jan2014, ‘Which of the below reasons describes why you did Christmas shopping online?’ n=3267 & ‘Did you use the internet to research Christmas purchases prior to going to the shops?’ N=1466
But the internet is not just used to purchase at Christmas – it plays a big role in the discovery and comparison stage as well because...
of SCA listeners say they use the internet to research Christmas presents prior to going to the shops.

15. And the great news is, although online purchasing is already high, it’s expected to grow even more this Christmas.
Source : SCA Post Christmas Study Jan2014, ‘Based on your experiences with online shopping/research in the past year, do you think you will increase your usage of the internet to enable you to do any of the following next Christmas?’ N=1112
Compared to 38% in 2013
% of people that will increase their usage of the internet for the following activities this Christmas…
Compared to 39% in 2013
Compared to 38% in 2013

16. But it’s not just the internet at home that people will be using for their Christmas shopping this year….

17. SCA listeners will use their mobile phones during the Christmas shopping process.
of SCA listeners will use their mobile phones during the Christmas shopping process.
Source : SCA Post Christmas Study Jan2014, ‘When shopping at Christmas did you use your mobile phone for any of the following reasons?’ N=3520

18. While they may physically be in your store, they may be digitally in someone elses…
Source : SCA Post Christmas Study Jan2014, ‘And more specifically while you were in a certain store at Christmas did you use your mobile phone to do any of the following?’ N=3520
While they’re in a store, SCA listeners won’t be afraid to check out products and prices of competitors – to make sure they’re getting the best deal.
SCA listeners will also be browsing a store’s website while they’re in the store – possibly to check product features, prices and any special deals on offer.

19. What it boils down to is that SCA listeners love Christmas – in fact 61% are really looking forward to Christmas this year.
They’ll be buying a variety of gifts and while plenty of people will be researching their purchases online, many will still be hitting the shops. Online shopping will certainly continue to grow though – with half of SCA’s audience expecting to increase their online shopping this Christmas.
Source : SCA Post Christmas Additional Study Sep2014, ‘’I’m really looking forward to Christmas this year.’ N=1063

20. The results of this survey are “INDICATIVE” ONLY.
The survey was conducted by Southern Cross Austereo using its online panel nationally.
The panel is obtained from our radio networks database under the labels of ‘VIP’ on the TODAY Network and ‘Music Jury’ on the MMM Network. All members of these databases would be considered listeners to these stations.
The database contains about 260,000 members. Of these, approximately 20,000 are a part of our online community.
The is split between the Today VIP database and the Triple M database. Members of both databases were asked to take part in the studies.
Post Christmas Study
All members of this community were invited to complete the survey, and 3,000 did so. An additional 500 external respondents were recruited to complete the survey. Members of this database have no knowledge of Southern Cross Austereo’s involvement and aren’t necessarily listeners to either network.
Christmas Additional Study
This study was sent in September 2014 and more than 1000 people responded.
Various filters were then applied to be able to analyse each target demographic.
Certain questions asked for an ‘essay’ or ‘verbatim’ type of response OR brands/words that first came to mind.
A keyword search was used to sort and rank the responses to these questions.
The results are an un-weighted sample, but are reflective of the Southern Cross Austereo. SCA brands reach approximately 40% of the 10+ population and approximately 46% of the 25-54 population in the five metropolitan markets in Australia, suggesting it would be reasonable to consider these results to be a fair if not fully balanced representation of the opinions in these marketplaces.
Furthermore, as it is an online survey, the respondents would also be skewed towards being ‘early adopters’ for technology, ‘trend setters’ in general and likely to be a good early indication of brand leaders, trend setters and early adopters in general.
These research surveys conducted by Southern Cross Austereo are done so to provide a general understanding of the opinions, interests and attitudes of the metropolitan marketplaces only.
How the research was conducted