Christmas gifts, on the other hand, are more and more often purchased online.

The Finnish Christmas card tradition is still going strong. This year, almost 80% of respondents intend to send Christmas greetings, and up to 90% of those who do so consider it a tradition to be preserved. At the same time, more and more Finns are buying Christmas gifts online: 53% of respondents have bought or plan to buy Christmas gifts from online stores. This is shown by a survey commissioned by Posti in the second half of November.

The survey reveals that the most popular way of sending Christmas greetings is once again to mail a card or a letter. Cards include both store-bought and home-made Christmas cards as well as mailed greetings made of a personal photo.

“A Christmas card is a beautiful and traditional way of bringing joy and sending greetings. It is wonderful that this tradition continues from one decade to the next and is thus passed on to next generations. According to the survey, a paper Christmas card conveys a personal and warm thought from the sender to the recipient,” says Tuija Åkerman, Consumer Mail Business Unit, Posti.

According to the survey results, Christmas cards are sent to family members, relatives and friends. Again this year, most greetings will be sent to siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles. People also want to remember their current and former neighbors with Christmas cards.

Up to 95% of those planning to send Christmas greetings said that their main motivation was to make the recipient happy. The importance of tradition was also emphasized in the survey: 90% of respondents consider Christmas cards a tradition they want to hold on to. Last year, the corresponding percentage was 81%. Reciprocating was another central reason; receiving a Christmas card from someone makes people want to return the favor by sending a card back.

If it is not possible to meet friends and family face-to-face this Christmas, the importance of sending greetings in the form of a card is further emphasized. “Christmas cards, letters or even mailed photo greetings are a beautiful way of remembering loved ones as the COVID-19 situation continues to overshadow our lives. They will surely delight the recipient for a long time,” says Åkerman.

Christmas gifts increasingly bought online

Regarding Christmas gifts, the survey results show an increase in online shopping activity triggered by COVID-19: more than half (53%) of the respondents to the survey said they had already bought or intended to buy Christmas gifts online, and as many as 81% of those who consider themselves pioneers shop for Christmas gifts online.

The main reasons for buying online are the possibility to make Christmas purchases whenever you want (59%), the wide selection of online stores (53%), the convenience of buying and time savings offered by online stores (50%) and the stress-free nature of online shopping (42%). The competitive prices of online stores, the use of special offers and the safety of buying were also mentioned as appealing factors.

“According to the online shopping survey published earlier, the growth of online shopping shows no signs of slowing down. This is also reflected in these recent survey results: commerce, including Christmas commerce, is moving permanently online,” says Tommi Kässi, Vice President, Large Domestic Customers, Parcel and eCommerce, Posti.

The survey commissioned by Posti was conducted by IROResearch Oy’s national consumer panel on November 16-24, 2021 with a total of 1,000 respondents. The survey’s margin of error is approximately +3.2 percentage points at most.

Source: Posti Group