Gift Giving Trends for 2009 see green and traditional crafts benefit from credit crunch

Dec. 10, 2008 - PRLog -- ProblemPresents.com predicts a shift in gift buying trends in 2009, based on analysis of recent search activity online, as well as wider consumer trends. It predicts the top 5 trends affecting gift buying will be:

1.   The new old – revisiting skills consumers thought they had lost in order to produce home made, home crafted gifts. This could be everything from knitting to wood carving, painting to jam making. New technology will give a wider audience access to contemporary and nostalgic designs to replicate at home.

2.   Gift Miles – the gift equivalent of food miles, consumers will look to make their money count and support businesses that not only provide something different but also with a link to their local economy. Small, local and independent will become more attractive, as well as those online sites that gather together the best of small businesses around the UK, such as Not On the High Street and Etsy.

3.   Less will be more – people will think more about what they are buying, as they will be looking to spend less. When watching the pennies, consumers won’t want a random collection of stuff panic bought from the High Street. Last minute shopping will decline, in favour of better considered purchases.  

4.   Long Tail Gifting – consumers will be looking for more and more unusual gifts that reflect a person’s very real interests. For example, it won’t be enough just to buy a foodie gift, but a foodie gift for someone who really enjoys goats cheese, particularly goats cheese from South West France. Related to less is more, when consumers spend money, they’ll want to know they’ve got something just right, no matter how obscure. The web allows consumers to delve into these niches, no matter how small.


5.   Green and pleasant land – consumers will be looking for objects with serious green credentials, particularly those that help save the other green stuff at the same time. Money saving and eco-friendly will happily co-exist, as well as serious design chic now being essential as well as the green credentials of an item.

Helen Tarver, Editor at ProblemPresents.com, says, “We have been seeing the undercurrent of these trends throughout 2008 and see these 5 as the key influencers of purchasing in 2009. As the economic climate continues to be uncertain, this will be a year of taking stock, considered purchasing and also for rediscovering the joy of creating things ourselves.”

# # #

ProblemPresents.com is a guide to great gifts for every occasion, to answer the eternal question of "what on earth shall I get them this time?" Always looking to bring new unique answers to that age old question!