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Over half of Brits will give ‘virtual’ gifts this Christmas

2nd December 2014 Print

A new survey looking into the nation’s Christmas shopping baskets reveals that over half of Brits are planning to give ‘virtual’ gifts including gift cards and vouchers for high street retailers, book or garden vouchers and magazine subscriptions.

The survey, commissioned by Gocompare.com, also revealed that while 37% of those intending to give a ‘virtual’ present do so because they consider them to be more thoughtful than just giving cash, less than a third (32%) did so because they thought they were a truly great gift, and 30% said they opt for ‘virtual’ presents just to make their Christmas shopping easier.

Happily, 54% of those surveyed who had received a ‘virtual’ gift considered it a good Christmas present, with over a third (34%) saying that it was exactly what they wanted. Only one in ten thought ‘virtual’ presents were impersonal.

Retailer gift cards and vouchers top the list of ‘virtual’ gifts people intend to give this Christmas, followed by book vouchers, restaurants and hotel vouchers and magazine or newspaper subscriptions:

Virtual gift - %

Retailer gift cards or vouchers e.g. Marks & Spencer, HMV, WHSmiths, Amazon 32

Book voucher 12

Restaurant or hotel voucher 9

Subscription e.g. magazine, newspaper or comic (including online membership) 7

Garden voucher 6

Music download or streaming 6

Cinema gift card, voucher or membership 6

Experience day e.g. driving day, spa day, hot air balloon flight 6

Charity gift e.g. water scheme or goat 5

Membership to theatre, museum, art gallery, etc. 4

Mobile phone top-up 4

Film downloads or streaming 3

Claire Peate, customer insight manager at Gocompare.com commented: “Gift cards, vouchers and other ‘virtual’ gifts make convenient Christmas gifts - they can be particularly useful if you don’t know what to buy, but don’t want to give family or friends the wrong thing. But, while some gift cards and vouchers are open-ended, many have a time limit on when they can be redeemed – for some this can be as short as six to 12 months – and the valid period often starts from the date the gift was purchased, not when it was given. So, if you’re planning to give a ‘virtual’ present this Christmas, make sure you highlight the expiry date to the recipient to make sure they benefit from your gift.”