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Millions of Brits will buy their own Christmas presents this year – so they don’t end up with something they’ve got absolutely no use for.
A poll of 2,000 adults found 53 per cent have received unwanted gifts in the past, and at an average cost of £45 a gift, this adds up to nearly £1 billion in ‘wasted’ presents.
Nearly half of us now prefer to simply ask for cold hard cash or a gift card in place of a present, so we can buy a gift we actually want.
But a third even have gift-card gripes, if they receive one for a store they wouldn’t normally use.
The research, commissioned to launch Zeek Shop, the UK’s first all-digital gift card store, also found 46 per cent wish they could pick the gift themselves and over a quarter claim they’d rather go without altogether.
Daniel Zelkind, co-founder of Zeek, said: “We know how stressful and time-consuming it can be to find the perfect presents for family and friends at Christmas – which as the research shows we get wrong more often than not.
“Sending a loved one a gift card from ZeekShop.com is the ‘fool-proof’ gift.
“Even if you pick the wrong gift card, your loved one can swap it for a retailer they love in secret – so everyone wins.”
Despite investing an average of two hours thinking about the best gift to buy, 36 per cent of us still miss the mark when it comes to present buying.
This equates to a staggering 2.4 billion minutes wasted on picking presents across all the shoppers of the nation.
More than two fifths of Brits would secretly exchange their gift if they were guaranteed no embarrassing repercussions, while 10 per cent have accidentally attempted to return a present to its original giver.
It appears, however, a few of us have a Christmas conscience, as a third wouldn’t dare risk a seasonal swap for fear of being found out, according to the research carried out through OnePoll.
TOP REASONS PEOPLE GET RID OF GIFTS:
1. Disliking the gift
2. Unable to use/spend it
3. Already own the gift
4. Present is better suited to someone else
5. Received too many of the same gift
6. Unable to afford a gift for someone else
7. Doesn’t fit
8. Forgetting a gift for someone else
9. Having no space in the house
10. Disliking the gift giver
Zeek Shop is the brand new all-digital gift card store, featuring many of the nation’s top brands from ASOS and Topshop to Ticketmaster and Spotify.
Visit www.zeekshop.com to find out more.
ENDS
