Most Czechs plan to buy Christmas gifts online as bigger budgets gain ground

Online shopping will account for most or all Christmas gift purchases for 58 percent of Czechs this year, according to a survey commissioned by parcel delivery company GLS and conducted by Ipsos.

That share is unchanged from last year, but the proportion planning to spend more than CZK 10,000 on presents has risen from 10 to 14 percent.

The findings also suggest that much of the Christmas shopping rush will take place this month. Around three-quarters of respondents want to have all their gifts bought by the end of November, while 68 percent plan to take advantage of Black Friday promotions.

More than a third of respondents plan to spend up to CZK 5,000 on Christmas gifts. At the lower end of the budget range, 4 percent expect to spend less than CZK 1,000.

The growing share budgeting more than CZK 10,000 points to higher planned spending among some shoppers, although the survey measures intentions rather than completed purchases.

GLS Czech Republic director Petr Pěcha said he expected a strong Christmas season, potentially the strongest on record, with a substantial share of gift spending going to online retailers.

Just 5 percent of respondents said they did not intend to shop online at all, down one percentage point from last year.

Both this year’s survey and the previous edition included approximately 1,000 respondents, allowing a comparison of shopping plans between the two seasons.

Black Friday promotions are attracting interest beyond Christmas gift buying. The 68 percent planning to use the discounts include both people shopping for presents and those looking to make spontaneous purchases.

Michal Benatzky, marketing manager at e-commerce platform Upgates, described Black Friday as the main trigger for the Christmas shopping season.

Customers now deliberately wait for late-November offers, he said, adding that stricter legislation over the past three years had helped restore trust in the authenticity of discounts.

For retailers, he argued, the event’s commercial value comes primarily from encouraging existing customers to shop again, rather than simply attracting new ones.

Once orders are placed, parcel lockers remain a popular delivery choice. GLS identified the ability to collect purchases around the clock as one of the main reasons shoppers favor them.

However, most respondents did not see a need for further expansion of locker networks in their communities. Some 60 percent said their municipality already had enough, while 20 percent wanted more.

The remaining fifth took the opposite view, saying there were already too many parcel lockers where they lived.