00:00 "It's such a huge moment for certain types of retailers and services this time of year,
00:07 like restaurants, like in chocolate shops, lingerie, wine, and you know, that kind of
00:15 thing. Gift cards, of course. It really is their biggest shopping spike of the year,
00:21 so it's so important they get it right."
00:22 A widespread dip in spending and a general decline in economic activity means the UK
00:27 is now in a recession. December last year, usually a time where shoppers are handing
00:31 over the most cash, saw a spending slump instead. And so, retailers looked to the first big
00:37 gifting holiday of this year to lift their sales. And it seems, from the stats, people
00:41 weren't put off from splashing the cash this Valentine's Day.
00:44 "It's funny because with costs of living crisis, you'd have thought that people would
00:49 perhaps not spend so much on Valentine's Day. But it looks as though it's been a bigger
00:57 Valentine's Day as ever. It's still a really, really popular time."
01:00 It comes though with news that seven in ten Brits have returned items in the last year.
01:04 According to the latest estimates, these returns cost UK retailers a massive £60 billion a
01:10 year.
01:11 "Generation Z, so those people aged 16 to 24, are actually more than twice as likely
01:17 to return things as Generation X, which is slightly older people."
01:22 And it's not just Valentine's Day. Nearly a quarter of Gen Zers, those aged between
01:26 16 and 24, have also secretly returned the gifts they received at Christmas time. However,
01:32 not every gift goes back to the shops. According to the data, nearly half of Gen Zers, 43%,
01:38 don't bother to return items if they cost less than a tenner, while 46% re-gift their
01:43 unwanted items to others.
01:44 "We also found that, funnily enough, men are more likely to return gifts without telling
01:48 their partners than women. But I think that's probably just so as not to upset anyone."
01:53 Why do you think there is this bit of a generational gap? Do you think young people are more readily
01:58 returning things, or do you think that they're just being more honest about it?
02:02 I think they're just more used to being able to return things. I mean, since Covid, we
02:10 all learnt to shop online. We all became really good at it. And that generation, that's all
02:14 they've known is shopping online. Whereas the older generation might have just, you
02:19 know, originally just shopped on their high street. And it's a mixture of things. But
02:25 I think younger people really, really demand personalisation. They demand shops, retailers
02:30 really, really knowing who they are and getting it right first time.
02:34 So the way we shop has changed, but will it continue to do so in the coming years? With
02:38 technology ever evolving, customers can expect the way we shop to continue to develop along
02:43 with it.
02:44 I think AI is only going to get bigger and more important in our lives. And I think it's
02:49 also, it's nice that it's become better known from a consumer point of view that AI is driving
02:57 these things that help us become better shoppers, help support our shopping habits. I think
03:01 people are starting to get more aware of that now, which is great.
03:04 [BLANK_AUDIO]
Comments