Less money, more thought in Christmas gift-giving

Tis the season for Christmas shopping. What are people buying for Christmas (for themselves or for gift-giving)?

"Everything below P300," Frances Yu, assistant vice president for marketing of Shopwise, tells us over lunch at Ebun in Greenbelt 3, Makati.

Crickette Tantoco, Shopwise VP for marketing and merchandising, elaborates, "Everything that’s below P300 moves very quickly, but people will not buy basura. It has to be a quality item. For example, in our last sale (which had droves of shoppers trooping to Shopwise Alabang till 4 a.m.), we had a beautiful clock with a picture frame that had a country design selling for P145. Its stock ran out in no time. The Japanese tea sets at P175 each, the mugs, glasses were among the first to go because they were real value for money deals. The very practical items move very fast."

Packing ’em in were the nice and durable backpacks selling for only P150. "The guys in the office would love this," says Frances. "You can give it to the messengers and security guards."

Fact is, when people have less money, they put more thought into what they give. Some even take the trouble of making their own Christmas cards. The worst times do bring out the best in people.

A fresh idea for a Christmas gift, sisters Crickette and Frances suggest, is a basket (or crate) of hydrophonic vegetables you can give to a family (lettuce is the most salable for Christmas). They go very well with today’s vegetarian trend.

However, as usual, at Christmastime, people won’t scrimp on new clothes and toys for their children. "They will still buy new toys and clothes for their kids," says Crickette, herself a mom. "All year round, they’d buy something for P300 for themselves but for Christmas, they go up to P500, P700, P1,000 or P1,500."

But they won’t wear velvet, gold or lame and look overdressed like a Christmas tree. "With the austere times and the move away from materialism since the Asian economic crisis, the trend is towards casual clothes, one that’s driven by color and silhouette," Crickette notes.

People may not care much about dressing up, but they’re certainly enjoying dressing up their Christmas trees. "If you look around you, Christmas is late this year," Crickette observes. "It’s actually very depressing in the malls. Ayala is not filled with lights yet. But we notice that for the first time, people are enjoying decorating their Christmas tree. They’re taking the time to pick out trinkets for their tree. They’re personalizing their tree."

For her part, Crickette has come up with a very Asian Christmas tree, with lots of little cheongsams, balls and tassels in red and gold. Have you decorated your tree yet?

And what are you eating for noche buena?

"We made it simple for our customers to choose by putting up a noche buena gondola where they can simply get stuff they need for noche buena (oodles of noodles, fruit cocktail, queso de bola and other goodies that add "the merry" to our Christmas table)," smart housewife Crickette tells us. "On the 23rd and the 30th, you won’t see chicken, pasta, tomato sauce, all-purpose cream on store shelves – they ran out very quickly so you have to buy them early."

If you’re a fruitcake nut, get it before Dec. 15. A perennial Christmas gift (which we love recycling, too), fruitcakes have been replaced by candles. "Candles were practically our No. 1 sellers in the decor department, but the sales slowed down because more people are selling them," Crickette shares an enlightening tip.

As a follow-up to Dr. Ned Roberto’s nationwide consumer coping and buying behavior survey report last July (which ranked coffee and soy sauce as the top surrogate ulam for the Class E market), Frances and Crickette note the following buying trends:

• At Shopwise, condiments have overachieved their quotas. But sales of instant noodles have taken a nosedive. Consumers have switched back to canned goods. It could be because manufacturers have come up with budget-size canned goods.

• There’s a big surge in the sales of native snacks vis-a-vis imported chips (or what we call junk food). Consumers are trading down to locally manufactured junk food. But this is not true for chocolates – imported chocolates are still enjoying such sweet success over the local brands.

• People are still buying imported luncheon meat (Spam is a favorite brand) and corned beef, no matter what the price.

• Other resilient items are cereals and Campbell mushroom soup, which continue to sell well.

• People are not using a lot of paper products. Toilet paper may soon go down the drain.

• Sales of cleaning aids are likewise down. People are switching to all-purpose cleaners like Domex.

• Fresh is still best and green is the in color not just for Christmas. People are buying fresh items. For sweeteners, the biggest seller is honey (both imported and local), and not sugar anymore. There’s a demand for sugar-free items from people who are either diabetic or are afraid to be one.

• Coffee sales are down, but Coffeemate sales are up. Now, how do you explain that?

Crickette explains, "Because of all these specialty coffee shops like Starbucks which has upgraded people’s taste, people don’t like instant coffee anymore. They’re buying gourmet coffee, high-end coffee or coffee that they grind up. But they still need creamer so Coffeemate sales are going through the roof."

• People are so cholesterol-conscious today that they’re buying specialty oils as well. Those that are heart-healthy, even if they’re not so budget-friendly.

• Athletic and outdoor apparel are making runaway sales. A lot of people now are into sports and they’re going out of the city to do things to fulfill themselves.

• Surprisingly, people are buying appliances – mostly the replaceables like flat iron, rice cooker and most of all, electric fan. When times are good, people buy TV or boom box. When times are hard, they buy things that are necessary.

"The general merchandise is going to be very challenging next year," Crickette points out. "Lifestyles are changing and buyers are much wiser now – they’re not willing to trade off quality for cheap prices. The price-quality equation has to make sense for them. Customer expectations are getting higher and higher. There are all these high-end shopping destinations like The Podium, Rockwell, the new Greenbelt. Merchandisers keep raising the bar. Customers have all these experiences which are so global but they don’t want to pay for the price. They’re so demanding."

"They’re no longer afraid to demand," says Frances. "They complain, express their displeasure if they’re not served right. Before, they just walked away. Now, they’re asserting their rights as consumers, which is good because they’re forcing the establishment to upgrade and be customer-centric. Low prices and discounts can’t stand on their own, too. Look at what’s happening to K-mart. On the other hand, Walmart doesn’t only have low prices but also a great selection, technology and well-trained employees. "

Frances further asserts, "The Filipino consumer this year is very difficult to define. There’s anxiety about the future, a lot of stress but they’re not expressing it because they don’t even know where it’s coming from. We call it silent panic – the feeling of loss of control over what’s going to hit you next; it could be a US war that could affect the peso, we don’t know what we’re facing."

"So they control the little things they can," Crickette adds, "like their budget, diet, body, time. Their sphere of influence gets smaller and smaller; they’re besieged all over."

So why not just give love on Christmas?