LONDON, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Amid signs of greater economic optimism, 31 percent of British consumers planned to increase their spending on holiday shopping his year, said Irish consulting firm Accenture Monday in its 2014 Christmas shopping survey.
The survey indicated that 27 percent of consumers were planning to spend an additional 250 pounds (or 392 U.S. dollars) or more on Christmas shopping than they did in 2013, Accenture said.
More than half of British consumers planned their Christmas shopping in advance: 57 percent had already started or planned to start purchasing presents by mid-September. In addition, 21 percent had already spent between 60 pounds and 300 pounds on Christmas gifts by mid-September, data showed.
Fifty-four percent of survey respondents said they would put cash aside to pay for their Christmas shopping with 32 percent planning to do so to take advantage of special, limited time offer "door buster deals." Ninety-three percent said discounts were the primary driver of purchasing decisions related to their holiday shopping, figures showed.
"With consumers starting to shop for Christmas gifts as early as September, retailers have an extended period to drive sales and acquire new customers," said Fiona O'Hara, managing director of retail at Accenture UK and Ireland in a press release.
The survey also indicated that with the proliferation of smartphone use and advances in technology, digital technology would play a more significant role in Christmas shopping this year.
Thirty-four percent of shoppers believed shopping with a mobile device would lead to better discounts and also help them compare prices while in a physical store. Over this Christmas season, 65 percent of shoppers planned to spend 50 percent of their Christmas gift pounds online, data also showed. (1 pound = about 1.57 U.S. dollars)
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