This year, the Brazilian will disburse, on average, R $104 per gift. Online stores go beyond shopping center as the main shopping venue and 52% of consumers will make payment in cash. Clothing Tops Gift Rankings

The latest signs of a slow and gradual economic recovery are already reflected in the prospects for the most important date in sales turnover and retail volume: Christmas. A survey conducted in all capitals by the Credit protection Service (SPC Brazil) and by the National Confederation of Shopkeepers (Cndl) points out that 110.8 million of Brazilian consumers must present someone at the Christmas of 2017. If expectations are confirmed, this year's Christmas will be slightly better than last year's, when the projection had been 107.6 million consumers in stores. In percentage terms, 73% of Brazilians intend to buy gifts for third parties at Christmas this year, a number that remains high in all age groups and social classes. Only 8% said they will not present, while 18% have not yet decided.

Considering only the acquisition of Christmas gifts, the movement of money in the economy should be r $51.2 billion in trade, a figure that represents a slight nominal growth in the comparison with 2016, the year in which the projection turned around R $50 billion.

In the evaluation of the President of SPC Brazil, Roque Pellizzaro Junior, the injection of this volume of resources in the economy shows why Christmas is the most anticipated period of the year for consumers and traders and gives indications that the willingness of Brazilians to consume is returning. "On the one hand, millions of consumers invest time and financial resources in the purchase of gifts and in the preparation of celebrations; On the other, many entrepreneurs prepare to hire manpower and increase production, hoping that sales compensate for the shy result throughout the year, "says Pellizzaro Junior.

Brazilian will buy between four and five gifts; Average spending will be R $103.83 per item purchased

On average, consumers heard in the survey intend to buy between four and five gifts – last year, this number was four acquisitions. The average value with each item will be r $103.83, but considering the purchase of all present, the Brazilian must disburse, on average, R $461.91, a cipher very close to that observed in 2016, which was R $465.59. In classes A and B, the amount disbursed in total gifts rises to R $630.96 and falls to R $414.25 among the people of class C. There is, however, a considerable proportion of 43% of consumers who have not yet decided on the amount to be disbursed.

Another finding that suggests a higher consumption provision for Christmas this year, is that most consumers will spend individually the same amount (33%) or a value higher than disbursed in 2016 (19%). Those wishing to spend less represent 26% of the sample.

Considering those who will spend more on Christmas 2017 than in 2016, a quarter (25%) ensures that they will acquire a better gift, while 17% complain of the increase in prices. There are also 14% of people who have saved throughout the year so that they can spend more on Christmas gifts. On the other hand, almost a third (32%) of consumers who plan to reduce spending gives as justification the bad financial situation and the tighter budget. Another 23% want to save, while 13% have other purchasing priorities, such as their own home or an automobile.

64% are animated with Christmas; Lack of habit, little money and unemployment are among the reasons for not gifting

Having the habit of gifting (64%) and considering the important gesture (31%) are the most common reasons among those who decided to buy gifts this Christmas. Among those who will not present third parties on Christmas 2017, 20% do not do it for lack of habit or because they do not like. The other reasons are more related to the crisis, such as lack of money (17%) and unemployment (15%). Those who will not buy gifts because they are indebtedness and need to pay bills add up to 10% of these consumers.

According to the survey, 64% of consumers claim to be excited about Christmas, against 27% of consumers who are discouraged or less excited than on the same date as last year. "Traditionally, there is much expectation around Christmas. Although Brazilians are experiencing difficult times, with high levels of unemployment and a serious political and social crisis, the symbolism and emotional atmosphere of this time of year seem to predominate and awaken positive feelings in most people, " Observes the chief economist of SPC Brazil, Marcela Kawauti.

83% will search prices, mainly by internet

In times of recession, even with controlled inflation, it is common for consumers to feel that the budget is tighter and that income does not accompany the price adjustment of products. So much is that among most consumers heard, it predominates the impression that Christmas presents are more expensive in 2017 than last year (58%). For 22%, the products are at the same price, while only 7% speak at lower prices.

Investing time to do price research will again be a frequent habit among buyers: 83% guarantee that they will adopt the practice and the Internet (76%) will be the main ally to make this type of comparison. Other 50% will search in shopping malls and 48% will compare prices going from door to door in the street shops.

Online shopping exceeds shopping center; Prices, promotions and discounts are taken into account for choosing the place of purchase

This year, for the first time online stores have surpassed the shopping malls as the place with the highest concentration of Christmas shopping. In every ten buyers, four (40%) will concentrate the purchases on the Internet, which represents a growth of eight percentage points compared to 2016. Following are the shopping malls (37%), department stores (37%) and street shops (26%). The preferred online addresses are the sites of large retail networks (68%), classified purchase and sale sites (42%) and specialty stores in apparel and accessories (34%).

For those who will buy online, the financial educator of the portal ' My Pocket happy ' makes an alert: "You need to be careful to make purchases over the Internet. The ideal is to make the requests in advance so that the gifts arrive in time for the parties. The delay in parcel delivery is a problem that consumers usually face at this time of year, but can be avoided if there is planning, "Vignoli warns.

In the opinion of the interviewees, the factors that most weigh in the choice of the point of sale are price (58%), offers and promotions (50%), diversity of products (27%) and quality of care (20%).

Clothes will be the most sought after products on Christmas and the most pleased children with gifts

According to the study, for another year the clothes remain in the first position of the ranking of products that consumers intend to buy for Christmas gift (56%). Toys (43%), perfumes and cosmetics (32%), footwear (31%) and accessories, such as handbags, belts and jewellery (24%), complete the list of most wanted products for the date. Gifts of higher value added as mobile phones (12%), games and videogames (10%), electronics (8%) and jewellery (8%) were less well positioned this year.

In the ranking of those who will be pleased with gifts this Christmas, the children appear in the first place (63%). Next, the most mentioned are husbands or wives (49%), mothers (47%), siblings (27%) and parents (21%).

At the time of choosing the gifts, the factor that the consumers most take into account is the profile of the present (28%), followed by the desire of those who will receive the present (20%), the quality of the item (16%) and promotions or discounts (13%).

52% will pay cash gifts; For whom installment, debts will last on average until the next mother's Day

This year, the cash payment will be the most widely used by most respondents (52%), either in Money (34%) or in the debit card (19%). Those who will use some form of credit add up 43% of the purchasers, and the split credit card leads, with 31% of mentions, followed by the credit card in a single parcel (9%) and the Crediary (2%).

On average, installment purchases will be divided into five times. This means that these consumers will compromise part of their income with Christmas benefits that should only be fully paid on Easter or Mother's Day month. "The Brazilian arrives at the end of this year with the impression that the worst moment of the recession has been left behind, but must be careful not to divide purchases with benefits to lose sight. If controlled inflation and the decline of interest serve as a breath, high levels of unemployment are still a problem. It is time to control spending, organize priorities and conduct the budget responsibly, without taking the emotional or assuming commitments above capacity, "directs economist Marcela Kawauti.

Methodology

Initially, 730 consumers were listened to in the 27 capitals to identify the percentage of those who wanted to go shopping at Christmas and then, from 611 interviews, we investigated in detail the behavior of consumption at Christmas. The margin of error is no more than 3.6 and 4.0 p. p, respectively. To a confidence margin of 95%.