A significant 74% of Australians are anticipating a scaled-down Christmas celebration this year while 72% are planning to reduce their Christmas spending, according to a recent Westpac survey.
Findings also showed that amid economic uncertainties and rising living costs, 74% of respondents plan to seek bargains and use coupons, deals, and cashback offers to make their festive budget go further.
Despite the cautious approach, the Westpac survey found that Australians are still planning to spend across various sectors this Christmas. This includes 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%).
To help customers cut costs this Christmas, Westpac is integrating cashback offers from ShopBack into the Westpac mobile banking app, to make it easier for them to access cashback on their online shopping purchases.
The partnership with ShopBack since December 2022 has seen Westpac customers collectively receive more than $12 million in cashback from purchases made through the ShopBack website and app.
“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 (pictured above), 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 Australians expected to spend an average of $836 this Christmas, with millennials likely to spend the most at $948, Westpac estimates that customers could receive an average $86 in cash back during the festive period.
Jason Hair, Westpac chief digital officer, said that integrating ShopBack into the Westpac app enhances customers’ convenience and control over 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,” 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.”
Westpac customers can get a 15% bonus cashback at Coles online and Target (capped at $20) and a 10% bonus cashback at Chemist Warehouse (capped at $15) this week. More bonus offers from Sephora, Petbarn, Catch, and others are also available.
Moreover, during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, from Nov. 24-27, customers can get up to 20% exclusive bonus cashback from eBay, Rebel Sport, and more (T&Cs apply).
“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,” said Angus Muffet, ShopBack general manager and co-founder.
“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.”
The cashback offers can be accessed in the Westpac app under “Profile,” then “Rewards and Offers,” and then the ShopBack tile.
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