An appeal to South-West Shoppers this Christmas - Don’t gift-type!

South-west shoppers are urged to end the scourge of “lazy, wasteful and boring” gift-typing this Christmas.

‘Gift-typing’ is when people regularly gift friends, family and work mates the same or similar presents year after year - even when the recipient has clearly outgrown the interest or item.

The lazy gifts could relate to a one-time hobby, a childhood fascination with a toy, or perhaps expressing support for a sports team, but it means a lifetime of repetitive gifts from otherwise well-intentioned loved ones. And according to a new YouGov poll commissioned by Love2shop, there are millions of innocent victims across the UK, resulting in thousands of unwanted gifts and multiples of similar or the same items.

To make their point, the brand is campaigning to #EndGiftTyping in a fun, charity parody style appeal, with TV and radio ads airing now and in the run-up to Christmas across the UK. The YouGov poll of over 2000 respondents revealed that 38 percent of South-west residents receive 'predicatable' gifts relating to a hobby such as baking and crafts, with over the 55s the most gift-typed in this category (55%).

Joint second most common gift-typing categories were: gifts relating to entertainment such as favourite TV shows like Strictly, Bake Off, Top Gear or a favourite band, alongside gifts related to health and beauty such as bath sets, cosmetics, aftershave and perfume). The third most popular category of gift-typing related to sports with almost one in five men gift-typed in this category.

Almost half of South-west consumers say they would love a combination of gift cards and physical presents.