Aimia research reveals consumers use free gifts for Christmas presents

Customer insight specialist Aimia has released research showing that one in four UK consumers planned to use free promotional gifts from shops as presents for friends and relatives over the Christmas period.

The study found that while one-third of Brits expected to spend more this Christmas than the previous year, 88% planned to use rewards, points or deals to offset the cost.

71% of people agreed they would be comparing prices between retailers to pick the best deals when doing their Christmas shopping. 47% of people agreed that they were actively looking for discounts from brands they like when doing their Christmas shopping and around one-quarter (24%) agreed they would use free gifts from shops as Christmas gifts for others this year.

The findings reveal that while Christmas spending was up, money saving habits, such as collecting loyalty points, bargain hunting and passing on free gifts, have become a central part of festive household budgeting.

For many shoppers they have become absolutely essential at Christmas. One in five (22%) agreed that they would struggle to afford the cost of Christmas were it not for loyalty points and rewards while 32% agreed that offers and discounts were essential for making Christmas affordable.

Aimia’s Loyalty Lens research took place between 9 Dec – 15 Dec 2014 among 1,489 UK adults. The research was conducted by Research Now.

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