Survey: Meaning, not price, drives gift purchases

Boston – A vast majority of shoppers say meaning is the most important factor in choosing a holiday gift to purchase. According to a new survey from online marketplace CustomMade, more than 90% of buyers surveyed said that the most important factor in choosing a gift this holiday season was its meaning to the recipient, while only 18% of respondents found an item’s low price to be highly important to their purchase decision.



In addition, the two most popular retail destinations for holiday shopping this year will be at local stores/independent retailers (32.7%) or online (39.5%), not at a mall or big box retailer (14%). Long lines (28% of respondents find them to be the worst part of holiday shopping) and anonymous merchandise (22% dislike finding the same items everywhere they shop) are the two main factors in the low popularity of malls.



And handmade, crafted goods from small businesses are of particular focus this year, as 40% of respondents said that their favorite type of gift to give was something created especially for the recipient, while 30% love giving something handmade. Additionally, 46.9% of respondents said that supporting small businesses and/or independent artisans was highly important in where they decided to shop.