London, UK – 7 December 2017 – A new survey revealing the gifting habits of the British, French and Germans from leading smart location company Tile[1] shows that Brits will fork out a staggering £2 Billion this Christmas on replacement presents having lost or broken the original gift. In addition, a surprising number of guilty individuals simply keep them as a treat for themselves. It’s not just the Brits who are wasting time and money on gifts not given, 47% of Germans end up buying additional gifts, spending up to €2.5 Billion a year!
With the best of intentions, Brits try to be organised with a staggering 44% planning their Christmas shopping in advance. It’s no surprise they put a plan in place, as 60% state that it’s easy to lose Christmas presents when traipsing around shops with lots of bags. The French are the most festive and love Christmas shopping, with 57% making a day of it, whereas the Germans dread it, with 12% leaving it all to their partner. It seems that after all the stress of shopping, all parties think they deserve a reward with over 25% choosing to keep a gift they intended for someone else.
Despite their organisation, Brits are also the most forgetful, with over half (53%) hiding presents so well they forget where they’ve hidden them. The Brits are not alone however, as over 30% of the French and Germans hide presents too, with the back of the wardrobe being the most popular hiding place.
Changing their mind or hiding presents isn’t the only explanation for Christmas gifts never reaching the recipient, with over 10% of Brits and Germans admitting to eating a present intended for someone else. Only 7% of the French do this, perhaps explaining why they have a reputation for being slimmer. Brits, Germans and the French aren’t just eating their presents, they are drinking them too, with over 18% all keeping back a bottle of wine. According to the research, selection boxes (29%) and bottles of wine (18%), were the most common presents that the French and Brits never hand out, with 14% of Germans never ending up gifting either a smartphone or a tablet.
Simon Fleming-Wood, CMO, Tile said: “The spirit of Christmas is all about giving so it’s surprising to see how many gifts never make it to the intended recipient. Of course, some might just be too appealing to give away, but it’s a shame to see that so many are simply getting lost or stolen. Tile’s smartphone app, devices and community can not only help reunite you with lost belongings, but also enable you to anonymously help others to find what matters to them most.”
Tile’s new Pro Series range features its most powerful Bluetooth trackers to date, Tile Style and Tile Sport. The trackers make it quicker and easier to find things you’ve lost or misplaced, making them both a way to keep you organised at Christmas and a fantastic stocking filler for friends and relatives that are always misplacing their keys, wallets and bags.
The iOS and Android-enabled Tile App allows users to ring Tiles attached to their belongings if nearby, find their phone even when it is on silent mode, and view the last known location of their item on a map further afield. If an item is out of range, you can mark it as ‘lost’ in the app to put others running the app on alert to update its location, helping you to find your things in over 230 countries and territories.
Tile Style and Tile Sport retail for £29.99 and are available online from Tile.com and major retailers including Amazon, Argos, Currys PC World, John Lewis and Maplin.
[1] Survey of 1,000 British, 1,000 French and 1,000 German men and women, conducted by an independent research company