Over the last few weeks, we’ve been exploring ways you can harness the spike in consumer activity over the pre-Christmas period through catalogue, flyer, and brochure advertising. If you’re a small business owner, your Christmas campaign is no doubt well underway by now, but we thought we’d take a look at some of the statistics floating around out there about the Christmas trading period in Australia this year. On the whole, predictions suggest retailers will enjoy strong Christmas returns this year with another record breaking spending period, so if you’ve invested time and money into a direct mail marketing campaign, you’re probably set to enjoy a good ROI. With Christmas just 11 days away, here are 11 interesting facts and statistics about Australia’s seasonal spending habits.

1. The Australian Retailers Association and Roy Morgan Research have released annual Christmas spending figures suggesting shoppers will be spending $48.1 billion in retail stores over the pre Christmas trading period (November 15 to December 24) this year. This is a 2.3% growth compared to 2015 when sales hit $47 billion.

2. In the 30 days leading up to Christmas, Australians are predicted to spend $4.9 billion online. To put that in perspective, eBay is recording a rate of 6 gifts per second being bought online this week.

3. Due to a falling Australian dollar, The Retail Council predicts that consumer spending will be more local than it has been in previous years.

4. 81% of Australians surveyed by McCrindle Research feel that shops begin their Christmas campaigns too early. 49.1% of those surveyed would like Christmas campaigns to begin in late November or early December.

5. Monday the 12th of December, was the biggest parcel delivery day in Australia’s postal history with more than two million parcels moving through the postal network. There has been a 15.9% growth in online shopping this year and statistically, 30% of all online purchases occur in the three months leading up to Christmas.

6. Despite the growth in online sales, a 2015 ‘Christmas Pain Points Survey’ by American Express found that 72% of shoppers would like to see a product in person before making a purchasing decision. 43.3% of those surveyed wanted to support their local stores and retailers, and 51.5% of the study group expressed a desire to receive the item immediately. However, 21% of surveyed shoppers stated that they would be prevented from shopping in brick and mortar stores this Christmas due to the opening hours clashing with their schedules.

7. 33% of retailers surveyed by Deloitte stated that they intended to begin discounting their products in early December this year. However, the American Express survey findings suggest that holiday discounts aren’t high priorities for consumers. The study found that the top five considerations were: a desire for tailored services like gift wrapping, personal shopping, and customised ordering, the latest and most technologically advanced trends and products, the ability to earn reward points and use discount vouchers, ‘old fashioned’ personalised service and convenience.

8. Six out of seven Australians surveyed by The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment survey said they expected to spend the same or less on gifts in 2016. 34% of those surveyed stated that they intended to ‘spend less’, 52% planned to spend ‘the same’ and 14% said ‘more’.

9. The Commonwealth Bank XMAS Spending Study suggests that one quarter of Australian will do the majority of their Christmas shopping this Saturday (17th December). The other big days predicted for retailers are Sunday the 18th and Thursday the 22nd. The survey also found that women will do their shopping earlier around the first two weeks of December (key dates include the 1st, 3rd, and 10th) whilst men will wait until Thursday the 22nd and Friday 23rd to make their purchases.

10. 60% of Australians won’t set themselves a budget for presents this year and $9.9billion is the expected amount that Australians will spend on gifts. Of that number, women will buy $5.2 billion dollars’ worth of the presents, and generation wise, Gen Y will spend $3.3 billion (overspending by $247 million) whilst Baby Boomers will spend $2.8 billion (overspending by $179 million).

11. Present spending has grown 31% since 2014, with Australians predicted to spend on average $599 each on presents. In 2012, the average spend was $475.

Direct Mail Solutions specialise in providing direct mail marketing support to Melbourne small businesses in the form of printing, distribution, shrink wrapping and general fulfilment services.