Danish Women’s League of Christmas Shopping Marathon

What Danes most associate with Christmas is warmth and cosiness (53%).  Of course, what else! More than that, Christmas is associated with being surrounded by family (36%) and served good food (20%), the latest BERENT survey shows.

However, no successful Christmas can be achieved without several days of shopping, which in Denmark is almost solely the girls’ job – 63% of Danish girls say they are responsible for all Christmas shopping, while another 33% said they may have an assistant. The survey findings show that 37% of the guys would rather go for a drink in a bar – Christmas shopping is clearly not their thing.

That said, being Chief of Christmas shopping is not a problem for many – 17% of respondents claim that “Christmas shopping is the most fun part of the season”, although almost half of all respondents (44%) say that Christmas shopping is not necessary the loveliest experience.

Glimmering shop windows, special seasonal purchases, and loud Christmas music all make the shopping experience attractive and lead people to enjoy the ride into Christmas. Most people (62%) admit that they love the special festive atmosphere with decorations and Christmas music in stores, but crowds and queues kill this joy for half (48%) of them. According to the survey findings, a quickly emptying purse brings the Christmas spirit right down for 57% of the respondents.

Anbundance of ads and pressure to buy are other negative factors associated with Christmas shopping for 42% of respondents.

To avoid having to do too much shopping in the weeks before Christmas, 43% of the super Christmas shopping girls claim to start taking care of presents well in advance. This seems to lower their Christmas shopping stress factor. Many international surveys, as well as BERENT’s Christmas survey around Baltic sea countries, reveal that the Danish are the most relaxed about buying the right Christmas presents. Surprisingly, only 15% of Danish are worried about buying the wrong Christmas gifts – this is very low compared to the circa 40% who are worried in other countries where BERENT has conducted similar surveys.

Nevertheless, online shopping is not yet a complete substitute for many people, with only 19% of respondents claiming to  prefer Christmas shopping online and with just 9% saying that they complete most of their Christmas shopping online. All statistics show that e-commerce is growing, and it seems like glimmering shops and Christmas music may not be enough to attract and keep the consumer in the future. The risk to the High Street is severe if an attractive festive atmosphere can be presented online, since consumers see clear benefits in online shopping – saving time, better overview, budget control and the ability to find good prices, which are all elements which threaten High Street shops.

The survey was conducted in Scandinavian and Baltic countries, as well as in Germany. The fieldwork period was 12^th-17^th December, 2017, with a minimum of 1,000 respondents participating in each country.