Scousers beat Mancs in the Christmas spending league

Brands looking to finetune their marketing strategies in the run-up to Christmas are being urged to concentrate their efforts on a few key cities on the back of a new analysis which reveals where the most generous Brits live.

Conducted by Clear Channel, the “Gifting in the UK” study is based on 1,000 respondents, and offers insights on how much people spend on Christmas gifts, the most purchased gifts and the ways people shop for them, as well as the main sources for gift inspiration and whose gift people put the most effort into.

The research reveals that the most generous people live in Liverpool, with 60% of Scousers claiming they enjoy giving gifts. Southampton is the second most generous city in the UK with 59%, closely followed by Nottingham, where 58% of people enjoy treating their nearest and dearest.

Londoners, however, are among the least generous, taking the 10th spot on the list with only 50% of people enjoying giving gifts. The title of the least generous city overall goes to Manchester, with only 41% of Mancs embracing the gifting tradition.

The full list of the most generous cities is as follows:
1 Liverpool – 60%
2 Southampton – 59%
3 Nottingham – 58%
4 Leeds – 55%
5 Bristol – 55%
6 City of Edinburgh – 53%
7 Brighton and Hove – 51%
8 Leicester – 51%
9 Newcastle upon Tyne – 50%
10 Greater London – 50%
11 Glasgow – 48%
12 Birmingham – 48%
13 Sheffield – 46%
14 Cardiff – 45%
15 Greater Manchester – 41%

Other key findings from the survey include the fact that only 25% of people plan to do their Christmas shopping online, while 34% plan to shop on the high street. The majority of people (41%) prefer to use a mixture of online and in-store shopping.

Meanwhile, the most purchased gifts are clothing (35%), toiletries and cosmetics (26%) and toys (27%), reflecting with the most purchased gifts by women, while for men it is clothing (28%), food & drink (21%) and toys (20%).

Most Brits (23%) plan to spend between £101 and £200 on Christmas gifts, although a budget of between £201 and £400 is not far behind (22%).

Clear Channel UK marketing director Ben Hope said: “Christmas is the perfect opportunity for businesses to establish a connection between brand and audience. As they finalise their festive advertising strategies and start to consider their 2024 campaigns, we wanted to dive deep into consumer behaviour data and pull out some revelatory insights on shopping approaches in the UK.

“By creating the ‘Gifting in the UK’ report, we wanted to help businesses target their efforts more effectively and efficiently as they start their holiday season marketing pushes.”