Press Release
Citibank Europe plc, organizační složka
November 26, 2008
Czechs Wish to Spend Money More Rationally on Christmas
People plan to spend their higher income rather on bargains and goods in the sales
When doing their Christmas shopping, the Czechs behave more rationally than two years ago. This is what this year’s shopping behaviour survey has shown, conducted on an exclusive basis for the Czech branch of Citibank Europe plc. by STEM/MARK, when the new data was compared with that from the 2006 survey.
“Since the average wage has risen over that time by some 15 percent or by 6.5 percent in real terms, the Christmas spending for presents remains the same, slightly above CZK 5,000. On the other hand, people show increasing interest in shopping during the post-Christmas sale period. Nearly half of the respondents are considering taking advantage of the special deals and the intended spending in this period is higher as well,” said Tomáš Motl, Strategic Survey Manager at Citibank.
According to the latest results, an average Czech citizen aged 15+ intends to spend on average CZK 5,250 on Christmas presents. An average household will spend CZK 4,000 on food, beverages and the Christmas tree.
“If we assume there are two adults buying presents in an average household, then we can estimate that one household will spend some CZK 14,000 to 15,000 on Christmas,” Tomáš Motl added.
There has been a major shift in relation to the sales that come after the holiday period.
41 percent of the respondents took advantage of them after last Christmas, and this year 46 percent of them plan to do so. They are mostly interested in clothing, shoes and sports equipment. However, roughly a third of those who plan to wait for the lower prices also intend to buy various electronic equipment and household appliances.
“The Czechs obviously still like Christmas and enjoy giving presents to each other. The amount of money they are willing to spend on them has not grown much though. Instead, they plan to enjoy the post-Christmas sales; in this manner they actually prolong the Christmas joy,” Tomáš Motl concluded.
However, some people will not take advantage of the sales since after the holidays they will not have enough money for shopping. This is a reason stated by a third of those who do not plan to shop during the post-Christmas sale period.
Nevertheless, everyone can opt to finance the holiday period and the post-Christmas sales using their credit card. “A credit card is an ideal flexible payment instrument that can help you fully enjoy Christmas shopping and post-Christmas sales while not restricting yourself in any way,” said Marek Dostál, Citibank’s Cards Product Head..
“Moreover, a credit card will provide the opportunity to go shopping during the sale period even to those who would otherwise not make use of this opportunity due to a lack of funds,” said Marek Dostál.
Among the greatest benefits of using a Citibank credit card is the instant availability of money, the chance to use a credit from the bank with a grace period of up to 55 days, flexible repayment options and interest rates starting at 9.9% per annum.
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