We will buy the most online on Christmas Eve

Bank Millennium analysed five pre-Christmas days, i.e. the period from 20 to 24 December 2024, in terms of expected transactions in online stores. It estimated how many transactions and for what total amount customers can make on these days, paying for purchases with BLIK, cards and through a payment gateway.

Predictions show that Bank Millennium customers will face a busy period of pre-Christmas online shopping. After intensive shopping on Friday and Saturday, a slightly calmer Sunday will come. From Monday, customers will go shopping online again. The hottest day - according to analyses - will be 24 December, i.e. Christmas Eve. On this day, customers can make over 750 000 online transactions, most often with BLIK and payment cards.

— Our estimates show that the average value of a card transaction made on Christmas Eve for online shopping may amount to nearly 180 PLN. We will spend more than a year ago, because then it was about 165 PLN — says Szymon Kuchciak, Head of the Payment Cards Sub-unit at Bank Millennium.

— On Christmas Eve, we expect an almost 20 percent increase in the number of BLIK transactions compared to last year. We estimate that the average value of such a transaction may amount to just under than 190 PLN. Last year it was about 170 PLN. BLIK is one of our customers' favourite payment methods due to its convenience and speed — emphasises Tomasz Perski, Head of the Customer Solutions Development Team – Cards and Payments in the Electronic Banking Department at Bank Millennium.

Why Christmas Eve? Probably after intensive Christmas preparations, we will catch a breather and find time for quick shopping. Traditional sales also start during the holidays, and some stores will certainly start a moment earlier. It is also one of the last moments for orders related to the New Year's Eve party.

Bank Millennium's predictions are in line with what Poles themselves declare in the context of Christmas shopping. The report of the Polish Bank Association published in December "Christmas Wallet of Poles" shows that despite the noticeable increase in prices in stores, the surveyed Poles will not give up celebrating Christmas - giving gifts and organising family gatherings. Although half of the respondents intend to reduce their spending on Christmas (as many as 43 percent of them want to save on gifts), at the same time they plan to spend 681 PLN on gifts for their loved ones, which is as much as 20 percent more than last year.

The pre-Christmas shopping fever follows smoothly after the time of promotions and sales in brick-and-mortar and online stores related to Black Friday and Cyber Monday (this year on November 29 and December 2, respectively). Bank Millennium analysed the expenses on these two days. On Black Friday, the number of payment card transactions increased by 22 percent, and on Cyber Monday by almost 30 percent compared to last year. The average such transaction was about 180 PLN. BLIK also broke popularity records with an increase in the number of transactions by 47 percent compared to Black Friday in 2023 (and an increase of about 44 percent on Cyber Monday) and an average transaction amount slightly exceeding 170 PLN. A customer who decided to pay with BLIK these days made about two transactions.

In turn, the average transaction for online shopping with payment via a gateway was about 430 PLN. This is largely due to the wide range of payments offered by the gateways - from fast transfers to deferred payments and POS loans.

According to the data, on this year's Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Bank Millennium customers most often bought in clothing and sports shops, on large shopping platforms, in household appliances/electronics shops and on Chinese platforms.

The "Christmas Wallet of Poles" survey was conducted on behalf of the Polish Bank Association by the Minds&Roses research agency using the technique of online interviews on 9-16 November 2024 on a representative sample of adult Poles of 1000 people and using the CATI/CAWI method on a sample of 76 bank branches from all over the country, representing all types of banks. More about the survey: https://zbp.pl/Aktualnosci/Wydarzenia/Swiateczny-Portfel-Polakow-2024link otwiera się w nowym oknie

More information: www.bankmillennium.pllink otwiera się w nowym oknie