Giant Singapore knows how much Christmas costs for Singaporeans–and they have a sale to cut down on that

Tis’ the season to be spending! Ever wondered how much to spend on Christmas gifts for families, friends and colleagues? A recent survey commissioned by Giant Singapore reveals surprising insights on how much a shopper spends, where they spend it, who they spend it on and on what kind of Christmas gifts.

The survey, which polled 500 Singaporeans between the ages of 20 and 60 years old, discovered that this Christmas’ top gift recipients are children (53%) and close friends (49%), followed by significant others (43%) and colleagues/bosses (40%). What came out surprising was that professional relationships sometimes trumps personal relations, as close to 10% more respondents are likely to buy gifts for their colleagues and bosses as compared to shopping for their siblings or even parents.

Whom they are buying Christmas gifts for also has a huge impact on their Christmas spending. The survey found that Singaporeans would spend $100 or more on each gift for parents, grandparents and significant others, while only spending $50 – $99 on siblings and children, $20 – $39 on close friends and relatives and only $10 – $19 on colleagues and bosses.

Convenience and value are key to Christmas shopping

Value for money, wide variety and convenience are the three most important consideration factors for Singaporeans when planning on where to shop for gifts. The survey found that Singaporeans are most likely to visit department stores and online stores followed by specialised shops and hypermarkets.

Overall, finding a meaningful gift is the most important factor for people when shopping. It’s especially true when the gif t receivers are their significant others, parents, and grandparents. Affordability is the second most important factor, particularly when it comes to buying gifts for children, colleagues, and close friends , while practicality of the gift comes in third.

Hey big spender!

With the many Christmas sales, promotions and deals happening around the festive season, 1 in 3 Singaporeans are preparing to spend more this Christmas with the majority buying up to 10 gifts. M ost respondents will be spending $100 – $300 on gifting this year and close to 1 in 5 Singaporeans have set aside more than $500 for their festive shopping.

Men are surprisingly the more generous spenders this holiday season with over 60% of them planning to spend $100 or more on gifts for their s ignificant other as compared to women (39%). In fact, almost half of male respondents have set aside $300 and more on Christmas gifts, while only 32% of women plan to do the same.

However, while having deeper pockets , the survey found that men are not great planners with 1 in 3 male respondents planning to only start shopping just a week before Christmas while a majority of women are early birds who would purchase gifts two to three weeks ahead.