Kelkoo Survey Says That 51 Percent Of Brits Financially Overstretch At Christmas

With Christmas spending set to hit a record high this year, research from Europe's leading search shopping engine Kelkoo has found that more than half (51 percent) of Brits become financially overstretched at Christmas. The survey of over 1500 internet

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With Christmas spending set to hit a record high this year, research from Europe’s leading search shopping engine Kelkoo has found that more than half (51 percent) of Brits become financially overstretched at Christmas.

The survey of over 1500 internet users conducted by Nielsen//Netratings for Kelkoo found that 56 percent of women, compared to 43 percent of men, said poor financial planning at Christmas has caused them to get into debt. Overspending is particularly acute amongst those earning between 25k and 30k (60 percent). The student and school leaver age group (16-24s) fared the worst with 67 percent admitting they had been financially stretched by Christmas shopping.

“As consumer debt remains an issue, more people are turning to the internet to help them plan how much they’re spending,” says Bill Rowley, the Head of Shopping at Kelkoo.

According to the study, more people are planning to research and buy their gifts online than will be doing so on the high street.

Overall, the internet is playing a larger role in the Christmas shopping process with 41 percent of respondents saying they intend to spend more than five hours a week researching and buying online in the run-up to Christmas, compared to 26 percent who will do the same on the high street.

For women, in particular, the internet will play a key role in their Christmas shopping. According to the research the average woman expects to spend just 3.5 hours on the high street and more than 5 hours online whilst men will spend 4 hours online and just 3 hours on the high street.

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