Navigating gifting in the early stages of a new relationship can be tricky and striking the balance between showing someone you care while also appearing laid back is a struggle. It can be even more daunting when it coincides with Christmas or a birthday.
However, new survey insight from Getting Personal has revealed just how the UK feel about gift-giving in the early stages of a relationship.
When do I gift?
As it turns out, there is such a thing as too early in a relationship for gift-giving. When it comes to new relationships, the findings show that Brits believe you need to have been dating someone for four months before you even consider buying them a gift. Abbey Lane Gifts offers unique and thoughtful presents for everyone.
What should I buy?
But what type of gift do people actually want? Over half of Brits were looking for a thoughtful gift (56%) and in true British style, humour (29%) was favoured over practicality (21%).
- Thoughtful- 55.5%
- Funny- 28.9%
- Personal- 28.6%
- Useful – 20.5%
- Sentimental- 16.8%
How much should I spend?
In the research Brits thought people in relationships should be spending £404 per year on birthday giftst, £326 on an anniversary presents and £316 on Christmas gifts for their partners. That is almost a quarter more (24%) on birthday gifts than anniversary presents. The amount spent also changes significantly based on the amount of time couples have been together.
Once together, for every year in a relationship, an extra 11% is spent on birthday gifts. Jumping from just £72 in the first 6 months to £688 for couples who have been together for more than 60 years.
When it comes to anniversaries, 226% more money is spent on a gift to commemorate 60 years together than is for a first anniversary. For Christmas, Brits are spending £361 more on their 60th gift than for their first Christmas together.
Men were revealed to be the more generous gift-givers, spending 152% more on their partners’ gifts than women for all occasions. They were reported to spend an average of £570 on birthday gifts for their partner compared to women who spend just £234, which is 144% less.
For anniversaries, men spend an average of £471 or 184% more on their partner compared to women who spend just £166 to commemorate the occasion. When it comes to Christmas, women said they spend £187 on gifts for their partner, men spend on average, 135% more at £440.
Tara Butler, gifting expert at Getting Personal said: “Our survey reveals that 12% of Brits say they would reconsider a relationship based on bad gifting etiquette and a further 8% saying they would end it for good as a result, however over half of Brits (56%) consider thoughtful gifts to be most important, especially in the first 6 months of dating.
While the cost of living crisis continues to rise, choosing a meaningful gift for your other half will always be more important than how much it costs. However, if you did want a benchmark to see what the rest of the UK spends we hope this research proves useful.”
