New research today from Westpac reveals 74 per cent of Australians said Christmas would be a much smaller affair this year and almost three quarters (72%) will be cutting back on their Christmas spending.
The research also found that 74 per cent of people said they would be actively seeking bargains and looking for coupons, deals and cashback offers to help stretch their spending further.
To help make it easier for customers to get more back in their pocket in the lead-up to the festive season, Westpac is integrating cashback offers from ShopBack into the Westpac Mobile Banking App.
Westpac customers have received more than $12 million in cashback from purchases made through the ShopBack website and app after partnering with the ShopBack Group in December 2022.
"Budgeting is top of mind as we head into the peak spending season with households planning smaller and simpler festivities with the higher cost of living," said Steve Rubenstein, Westpac Managing Director Consumer Finance.
"Our research showed that shoppers are also becoming savvier with their spending through purchasing gifts throughout the year and hunting around for the best deals, rewards, and loyalty programs.
"With almost a third of Australians planning to use cashback to help cut back costs this Christmas, we've integrated ShopBack offers into the Westpac App to make it even easier for customers to access cashback on their online shopping purchases.
"We know that on average, Australians are planning to spend $836 in total this Christmas, with millennials intending to spend the most at $948. We estimate, on average, our customers could get $86 in cash back when purchasing through ShopBack over the festive period - making their Christmas budget go even further," said Mr Rubenstein.
Australians are still planning to spend-up across a range of industries over the Christmas period, including food and drink (46%), clothes and personal items (29%), travel (24%), celebrations (20%), new technology (14%), entertainment (13%), home maintenance or DIY (11%) and beauty services (11%).
Westpac Chief Digital Officer Jason Hair said integrating ShopBack into the Westpac App would provide customers with even more convenience and control over their spending.
"Our personal finance management tools are designed to help people keep track of their spending and saving, and we've seen more and more customers accessing these budgeting tools, which we expect to continue to increase with Black Friday and Christmas just around the corner," Mr Hair said.
"This sentiment is supported by our research, which shows that almost a third (32%) of Australians are planning to do all their Christmas shopping online this year.
"Through bringing ShopBack offers into our Westpac App, we're further strengthening the digital experience for our customers and giving them access to offers that go beyond banking."
ShopBack is the largest cashback and rewards platform in the Asia-Pacific, offering Australians cashback on purchases at more than 4,000 online, in-store and gift card brands, including household brands like Chemist Warehouse, Amazon, The ICONIC, and eBay.
ShopBack General Manager and co-founder, Angus Muffet, said: "ShopBack always sees a big increase in activity during ShopFest, which is our end of year shopping festival covering 11 major sales events from November to January. Last year, 38 per cent of all sales occurred during November and December, and we're expecting a similar result this year."
"That's why we're keen to reinforce our partnership with Westpac through this new integration in the Westpac app, which will enable us to offer these customers access to exclusive rewards and offers," he said.
Westpac customers will get 15% bonus cashback when they shop at Coles online and Target (capped at $20) this week, and 10% bonus cashback at Chemist Warehouse (capped at $15), on top of the existing ShopBack cashback (T&Cs apply). There are also bonus offers from Sephora, Petbarn, Catch, and more this week.
Additionally, across Black Friday & Cyber Monday from 24-27 November, Westpac customers can also get up to 20% exclusive bonus cashback from eBay, Rebel Sport and more (T&Cs apply).
The cashback offers can be found in the Westpac App by searching 'ShopBack' in the search bar or clicking on 'Profile', then 'Rewards and Offers' and then the ShopBack tile.
About the research
The research was commissioned by Westpac and conducted by Lonergan Research in accordance with the ISO 20252 standard. Lonergan Research surveyed 2,021 Australians 18+ with surveys distributed throughout Australia including both capital city and non-capital city areas. The survey was conducted online amongst members of a permission-based panel, between 11 and 16 October 2023. After interviewing, data was weighted to the latest population estimates sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
