According to PayPal study 1.2M Irish consumers are Christmas shopping earlier this year due to lockdown

New research from PayPal reveals that one third (33%) of Irish consumers are Christmas shopping earlier this year due to lockdown. This translates to approximately 1.2 million people.

The study, conducted by Censuswide and involving more than 1,000 consumers in Ireland, found that the top reasons for starting shopping earlier are concerns over the availability of items (46%) and worries about delivery times (45%).

Some 45% of those starting their shopping earlier also said they are doing so in order to avoid the stress of last-minute buying, while more than a quarter (27%) admitted they would prefer not to visit shops in person when they open.

Furthermore, according to the survey, people on average expect to buy nearly half (49%) of their Christmas presents online this year.

The research also revealed that 62%of Irish consumers were making more of an effort to buy locally and from smaller retailers during the latest lockdown. Four in five (80%) respondents said their main reason for spending more with local retailers this Christmas is to support them during Covid-19.

On average, Irish consumers spend €541 on Christmas gifts. The biggest spending counties were found to be Louth (€1079), Westmeath (€870), and Leitrim (€853).

Maeve Dorman, Vice President of Merchant Operations EMEA, PayPal, said: “Lockdown has completely transformed how people are spending their money and it is interesting to see how many people are shopping earlier. As we approach Christmas – the busiest shopping period of the year which is well underway following Black Friday and Cyber Monday – the shift towards digital and contactless payments is even more prevalent than normal.

“As well as more of a reliance on online shopping, which will only continue to grow, our research shows that Irish consumers are planning to spend more with local and smaller retailers this year. It’s fantastic to see that community spirit is alive and well in Ireland, particularly during these more difficult times. We hope that these businesses can take full advantage of the Christmas spending boom by offering a safe, convenient and customer-friendly experience both in-store and online.

“Christmas 2020 will no doubt be different to previous years, however, it will still see people seeking to take advantage of any online offerings, supporting their favourite stores and shopping carefully for special gifts – probably even more so than before.”

More about Irish Tech News and Business Showcase here.
FYI the ROI for you is => Irish Tech News now gets over 1.5 million monthly views, and up to 900k monthly unique visitors, from over 160 countries. We have over 860,000 relevant followers on Twitter on our various accounts & were recently described as Ireland’s leading online tech news site and Ireland’s answer to TechCrunch, so we can offer you a good audience!

Since introducing desktop notifications a short time ago, which notify readers directly in their browser of new articles being published, over 50,000 people have now signed up to receive them ensuring they are instantly kept up to date on all our latest content. Desktop notifications offer a unique method of serving content directly to verified readers and bypass the issue of content getting lost in people’s crowded news feeds.
Drop us a line if you want to be featured, guest post, suggest a possible interview or just let us know what you would like to see more of in our future articles. We’re always open to new and interesting suggestions for informative and different articles. Contact us, by email, twitter or whatever social media works for you and hopefully, we can share your story too and reach our global audience. We are agile, responsive, quick and talented, we look forward to working with you!
If you would like to have your company featured in the Irish Tech News Business Showcase, get in contact with us at [email protected] or on Twitter: @SimonCocking e this becoming a reality with this initiative.”