It seems this year that tech gifts are likely to fill Santa’s sack for South Africans, but when it comes to unwanted gifts, cheap toiletries are the biggest no-no’s of the season.
That’s according to the latest survey by kalahari.com, South Africa’s largest and most popular online retailer.
- Cheap and nasty toiletries are the most hated gifts. Ugly décor items, IOU’s, inappropriate clothing and socks were also on the unwanted list.
- Most South Africans disliked the gifts they received from their loved ones because these were “not to their taste” or “cheap ‘n nasty”.
- Most denied that they personally gave bad gifts, however those who admitted to having bought bad gifts in the past, said it was because the gift suited their budgets!
- Most people say their partner is the hardest to buy a gift for
- Topping the wish lists were:
- Vouchers – 32% of respondents preferred to choose their own gifts – asking for vouchers instead of wrapped presents
- Tech Gadgets like tablets and mobile phones – 30%
- Jewellery came in third with 29%, and
- Fragrances also proved popular at 28% of the vote.
And finally, although almost everyone surveyed agreed that they love the festive cheer that comes with the season as well as the ubiquitous Christmas carols, but could shopping centres please not play Boney M carols? The German pop group of the seventies proved, unsurprisingly, to be really unpopular by Christmas shoppers.
“It’s clear that South Africans like to pick out their own gifts, but when they do nominate a gift, they go for the luxury items. You can also tell that they are discerning, judging by what the most unpopular gifts were: the ones that were seen as ‘ugly or not my taste’, ‘cheap ‘n nasty or ‘impersonal’,” says Kirby Gordon, head of brand and communication at kalahari.com.
In the poll, most respondents were reluctant to admit that they had ever bought a bad gift, but those who came clean said they had been guilty of buying bad gifts in the past because they could not afford better ones (33%), while “I could not find anything else” (23%) and “I ran out of time” (22%) were also prime bad gift excuses.
The majority (33%) said the hardest person to buy a gift for was their partner. According to the poll, dad was the hardest parent to buy for while mother-in-laws were also tough to please.
But grandparents, it seems, were the easiest to please.
Kalahari.com is SA’s largest online retailer with more than 12 million products. The survey quoted above was conducted via an online poll to an unbiased sample of kalahari.com shoppers. There were 2580 complete responses.