FRANKFURT a.M Germany, 24 November 2017—Say good-bye to spending Christmas stuck in a traffic jam: A majority of German consumers (62%) would purchase Christmas gifts online and have them shipped to friends and loved ones. According to a study commissioned by FedEx Express one-fifth of German consumers (20%) definitely plan to send gifts to close friends and close family members this holiday season.
The survey showed that the top factors were distance (63%) and surprise (21%), with saving time (7%) and cost (5%) ranking lower on the list, according to the respondents who are definitely planning to send Christmas presents by post this year. Among the notable findings: Many respondents are generally willing to send gifts to close friends (22%) and younger relatives such as their own children (22%) or siblings (20%), while far fewer would send gifts to their grandparents (10%).
“Nowadays, Christmas gifts arrive by home delivery. The survey results can be seen as a broader shift to online commerce, with many companies gearing up to accommodate changing consumer tastes and habits,” says Thomas Preuss, managing director, Sales for FedEx Express in Germany. “The survey shows that consumers of all ages now view Christmas as a prime opportunity for online shopping to surprise loved ones with unexpected gifts, especially those who may live far away.”
The run-up to Christmas is the busiest time of the year for express distribution companies. Volume is driven by the growth of e-commerce, with the highest surges on Mondays. FedEx expects to see a record number of packages traverse the company’s global network over the 2017 peak holiday shipping season. For the total season, volumes between 380-400 million packages are expected, including the three Mondays during peak with more than double the average daily volume.
“In today’s digitalized world, online shopping can be used to deepen relationships and make it easier to spread Christmas joy. Christmas is the season of giving – and today’s technology as well as hundreds of thousands of couriers located around the world make it all happen,” Preuss said.
More information about the holiday season can be found here:
