Refurbed National Survey: 97% Anticipate Stress When Buying Gifts for Loved Ones This Holiday Season While Over a Quarter Prioritise Sustainability

Refurbed, Europe’s fastest growing and Ireland’s leading online marketplace for refurbished electrical devices, has released the results of its recent nationwide sentiment survey. The survey, conducted on over 1000 consumers across Ireland, focusing on Christmas gift shopping, revealed a diverse variety of answers among respondents. Highlighted below are some of the key insights.

Diverse Financial Stress Levels in Christmas Gift Purchases

As the Christmas season approaches, many consumers are beginning to buy gifts for their loved ones and with the cost of living crisis raging, financial pressures continue to increase this holiday season. When asked how the respondent would describe the level of financial stress they anticipate to experience when purchasing gifts for their loved ones this Christmas season the survey reveals a diverse financial stress levels. 11% of participants anticipate feeling extremely stressed, while 21.5% expect moderate stress. A substantial 34.6% foresee somewhat stressed circumstances, and 25.2% predict feeling slightly stressed. Encouragingly, 7.7% express that they do not anticipate any stress at all in purchasing gifts for their loved ones.

With the spiralling cost of living and persistently high energy prices putting enormous strain on Irish families, this time is proving to be a formidable challenge as they grapple with striking a balance between Christmas celebrations and the broader realities of the cost of living crisis.

Sustainability and Purchase Intent

Beyond financial considerations, the survey explores the growing importance placed on more sustainable choices in Christmas gift selections. When asked how important it is to find more sustainable eco-friendly Christmas gift options this year the findings reveal heightened awareness amongst respondents. 7.3% considered sustainability very unimportant, 12.2% considered it unimportant, 25.3% found it slightly unimportant, and 27.8% ranked it as somewhat important. Moreover, 19.1% of respondents view sustainability as important, while 8.3% consider it very important.

Furthermore, the survey examined preferences in purchasing electronic devices for Christmas. Results indicate that 62.5% of respondents favour new devices, however 35.3% would choose refurbished devices, with a smaller percentage, 2.3%, expressing interest in acquiring second-hand devices.

Additionally, according to a survey conducted by refurbed for the back to school season this August two thirds of respondents (67%) would be likely to purchase refurbished tech, now that they know they save money and purchase more sustainably at the same time on platforms such as refurbed, which offers fully refurbished electronic devices up to 40% cheaper than buying new.

Pádraig Power, Senior Marketing Manager: Global Operations & Ireland at refurbed explained, “It’s truly heartening to witness Irish consumers prioritising sustainability, especially during these challenging times. With the holiday season adding increased pressure to participate in expensive consumer culture, we at refurbed encourage Irish customers to rethink their purchases, and embrace the circular economy this Christmas. By utilising existing resources and making mindful choices, let’s collectively strive for a truly green Christmas.”

Refurbed provides Irish consumers with more sustainable, refurbished technology when compared to the mass e-waste produced by buying new devices. All refurbed devices undergo a 40-step refurbishment process where the devices are cleansed of any remaining data and returned to their factory settings. When the consumer receives the device from refurbed it is like new and most importantly, refurbed devices are up to 40% cheaper than new, with a minimum 12-month warranty.

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