Holiday confessions: Shoppers admit to last-minute gift cards, secret self-gifting and a few white lies

Sixty percent of Gen Z and 63% of Millennials will buy a gift because it’s on sale even if they're not sure the recipient will like it, and half of all respondents said they would give the same gift to multiple people just because it’s easy. And when all else fails, gift cards remain a go-to: 55% grab one when they run out of time to find something thoughtful.  

More than half (58%) add extra items to their cart just to hit a free shipping minimum, 52% buy themselves something while shopping for someone else, and 54% have given a gift they secretly wanted for themselves.

More than half of Gen Z (56%) and 45% of millennials admit to downplaying how much they spent on a gift when someone asked. And while shoppers are more likely to play down expenses than show them off, one in three (33%) has bought a gift mainly to impress someone with what it cost. Another thing to consider? How outsourcing gift selection to AI might make the recipient feel. Twenty-five percent of respondents say they'd be disappointed to find out a gift they received was picked by AI.

Thirty-nine percent admit to regifting. Nearly half of Gen Z and millennials (48% each) have bought a gift because it was popular on social media or with influencers, even if they didn't like the gift themselves. Maybe that's because 43% of Gen Z and 41% of millennials trust influencers and creators more than their own friends when it comes to recommendations.

Thirty-nine percent have run into a holiday scam in the past two years, and 64% would feel ashamed if they fell for one. That number goes up to 70% for digitally native Gen Z. While only 27% of consumers would judge someone for falling victim to a scam, nearly half (45%) would be embarrassed to tell anyone if it happened to them. Forty-six percent of consumers (and 61% of Gen Z) would go forward with a transaction on a sketchy site if they’re spending $50 or less.

A sense of community can change certain behaviors. If an item shows up on their doorstep by mistake, 71% of consumers say they’d send it back if it came from a small business. But that number drops significantly when the mistake is made by a large corporation – only a little over half (54%) would take the time to make the return in that case.