Holiday shopping 2025: what gifts Ukrainians choose and whether they listen to AI - survey

"This year, we see that holiday preparations are becoming more considered and prudent: Ukrainians plan purchases earlier, approach spending more carefully, and more often choose what has personal meaning for them and their loved ones. According to the study, for 51% of respondents, the process of preparing gifts remains a pleasant ritual, not a stress," said Oleksandr Yampolsky, leader of the retail and wholesale distribution department of the Ukrainian division.

What are the trends?

As reported, holiday shopping by Ukrainians in 2025 has the following trends:

• prepare in advance. More and more Ukrainians start holiday shopping early: 18% - even before December, while the main shopping period falls on December 1-24 (62%);
• financial caution determines the holiday budget. For the fourth year in a row, Ukrainians are not increasing their spending: 46% are willing to allocate no more than a quarter of their monthly income for shopping, and 54% plan to spend 1,000-5,000 UAH;
• gifts for loved ones. Holiday purchases are centered around family (88%) and friends (40%). At the same time, young people more often deviate from the traditional scenario: 49% buy gifts for themselves;
• mostly buy offline. Most often, Ukrainians make holiday purchases in large and medium-sized supermarket chains (43%), online stores consistently rank second (27%), and cosmetic stores (21%) remain popular due to demand for gifts "for themselves and loved ones";
• online shopping: what annoys most. Shoppers are most upset by the lack of goods in stock (27%), excessive advertising (22%), and inconvenient search filters (14%);
• charity is an integral part of holiday preparations. 64% of Ukrainians plan to allocate part of their holiday budget to charity, and 8 out of 10 primarily support Ukrainian defenders at the front;
• do not trust algorithms. The most popular tools for choosing gifts are wish lists (46%), price comparison services (54%), and online reviews (50%). Influencer recommendations play a much smaller role - only 9-10% of respondents rely on them. And only 10% of respondents believe that the presence of an AI assistant on retailers' online platforms would facilitate the selection of holiday gifts;
• expect attention and care from retail. 18% of consumers expect help with choosing thoughtful gifts, 17% - the ability to send a present in festive packaging and with delivery on a specified day. AI-based assistants are only interesting to 10% of buyers.

For reference

As indicated by Deloitte, the study was conducted using a multi-stage stratified sample representing the population of Ukraine by gender, age, settlement size, and type of employment. Data collection was carried out through an online survey using a quota sample corresponding to the socio-demographic portrait of the Ukrainian population. In total, more than 1,000 respondents participated in the survey.