The Christmas season has got off to a flying start in Northern Europe where Nordic consumers have already bought Christmas gifts worth SEK 9.8 billion, with online sales representing 42% of the total, according to a PostNord survey.
The online Christmas trade is up and running in earnest and continues to take an ever-increasing share of the total Christmas trade. So far this year, Nordic consumers have shopped Christmas presents online to a value of SEK 4.1 billion, according to the annual survey “Christmas shopping in the Nordic countries” conducted by PostNord.
Up to November 21, one in three Nordic consumers had already bought Christmas presents. How far people have come with their Christmas shopping varies slightly from one country to another. For example, nearly half of Norwegian consumers have bought Christmas presents to date, while only a shade over one in five Danish consumers have started their Christmas shopping.
Online Christmas shopping is in full swing. 16 percent of consumers in the Nordic region have already shopped for Christmas gifts online this year, to a total value of SEK 4.1 billion. Norway is in the lead with 21 percent having Christmas shopped online, compared to 18 percent in Finland, 15 percent in Sweden and 13 percent in Denmark.
This last weekend, the year’s Christmas trade was expected to gather more speed, especially online, via Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The two days mark the official start of the Christmas trade, and many shops cut their prices sharply for their duration.
In 2016, the Christmas trade online looks like being bigger than ever. The survey indicates that Nordic consumers will be Christmas shopping online this year to a value of SEK 19.9 billion.
“Online shopping is becoming more and more important to the Christmas trade as a whole. Many people find it convenient to order at home in peace and quiet and avoid the Christmas rush in the shops. Having their Christmas gifts delivered to the mailbox at home, to the door or a service point is also regarded as a major plus. Now, it will be interesting to see how much effect Black Friday and Cyber Monday will have on the Christmas trade in the Nordics this year. These big shopping days have quickly made an impact in all the Nordic markets,” says Arne Andersson, e-commerce expert at PostNord.
Clothes, books and home electronics top the list of products that most consumers in the Nordic region have Christmas-shopped online to date this year.
The survey of Christmas shopping in the Nordic countries in 2016 was conducted between November 16 to 21, 2016, with a representative national selection of the population aged 18-79 in each Nordic country. In all, 2,000 respondents took part in Sweden, 2,191 in Denmark, 1,999 in Norway and 2,101 in Finland. The survey was conducted via the TNS SIFO online panel.
