Prague, October 22nd 2020. More than a third (37%) of the respondents will buy their presents exclusively online. Every third Czech plans to start buying earlier than in previous years, thus believing that the transport companies will manage the Christmas season. The data come from a GLS survey conducted by Ipsos on a sample of 1,100 respondents.
34% plan to start Christmas shopping earlier this year. Most respondents (76%) have not yet started, a third (31%) plan to buy gifts in November and a quarter even leave shopping for the last 14 days before Christmas. However, parcel carriers warn against this: "We expect this year's seasonal parcel volumes to be twice as high as last Christmas“, points out Pavel Včela, Director of GLS Czech Republic. “The key will be whether all existing carriers keep their transmission networks in full operation during a pandemic and whether, as in spring, dispensing points or even shopping centres or stores are closed. Even if the situation is stable, we still recommend ordering gifts in e-shops no later than Silver Sunday, December 13th.”
The popularity of online shopping is rising due to the pandemic
More than a third (37%) plan to buy gifts exclusively from e-shops, especially younger people aged 18 to 35. People aged 54 to 65 will order the least (27%) through e-shops. As main disadvantages of online shopping, Czechs name the inability to try the goods (68%), fear of a complicated complaint (36%) or of transport damages (44%) or uncertainty of the exact delivery time (31%). 27% lack the opportunity to choose a proven carrier in the shopping cart.
Parcel carriers have trust
Most people expect a similar delivery situation as last year. Only 4% are afraid that they will not receive gifts under the Christmas tree in time and a fifth is concerned about the closure of ParcelShops (20%). This, on the other hand, is no concern for 32%, because they believe that drivers will be able to deliver the goods directly to their homes. Preparations for the Christmas season have begun with parcel carriers in spring. Pavel Včela: "Every year, we increase the capacity of our network to be able to deliver all gifts on time. We already have a total of 25 depots available, some of which are completely new or in new larger premises, and we are also opening a sorting centre for Prague and Central Bohemia. Moreover, we have doubled the number of our ParcelShops to 600, opening more every day to cover at least all municipalities with more than 5,000 citizens.”