Recent subdued consumer confidence is not putting the brakes on spending this Christmas, with nearly two thirds (63 per cent) of Australian women planning to spend the same amount on Christmas gifts as they did last year and 11 per cent planning to spend more, according to The Heat Group's latest Heat Poll of 520 women.
However there are some women feeling the pinch, with 19 per cent planning to spend less on Christmas gifts when compared to last year. Seven per cent are not sure if they will spend more, less or the same.
"While the majority of women are planning to spend the same amount on Christmas gifts this year as they did last year, we believe that they will make their budgets stretch further than previous years," says Gillian Franklin, founder and MD of The Heat Group.
"Women are becoming more and more shopping savvy, and they are taking the time to seek out value for money."
When it comes to budgets, 43 per cent of women have indicated they are planning to spend between $200 and $600 on Christmas gifts this year, and 22 per cent plan to spend between $600 and $1000.
Online shopping plays a big part this Christmas, with a significant 69 per cent of women planning to shop for some of their Christmas gifts online.
Many women are avoiding the Christmas crush by shopping online, but there are still some who are yet to embrace online shopping - 31 per cent indicated they would not be shopping online for Christmas gifts at all this year.
"There are women who still prefer to shop in store and we have noticed that bricks and mortar retailers have introduced additional marketing activities, not always seen at Christmas time, to compete with online shopping.
"Activities such as increased rewards for loyal customers, an increase in VIP shopping events and pre-Christmas discounts, product sampling and entertainment, are being used to enhance the shopping experience," says Gillian.
Over half (61 per cent) of the women polled report that their stress levels increase over the Christmas period. The top cause of stress, for 28 per cent of women, is having the money available to cover all the costs.