Cattle manure is most popular with Christmas shoppers in NSW and mosquito nets most popular with Victorians, an analysis of Oxfam Australia’s sales of its donation program Oxfam Unwrapped revealed today.
Victorians are also the top buyers of goats, while their NSW counterparts prefer ducks and chickens. All of these animals help poor people escape poverty by providing produce and their offspring can be sold at local markets for income.
The analysis also revealed that despite general retail spending being down, sales for charitable gifts, through Oxfam Unwrapped, are currently up on last year at this time.
However Oxfam Unwrapped spokesperson Leigh Stewart said the next few days are critical to see whether sales exceed last year.
“We’ve opened temporary stalls in some Westfield shopping centres in addition to our Oxfam Shops around the country to cater for the last-minute shoppers,” Ms Stewart said.
“Alternatively, people can avoid the retail rush all together by buying an e-card from oxfamunwrapped.com.au right up until Christmas Day.”
The Oxfam goat is always the most popular but this year sales for the Oxfam piglet card, which helps support families in Laos, are up 30 per cent on last year.
The largest proportion of Oxfam Unwrapped customers are in the 35 – 49 age bracket, followed closely by 50 – 65 year olds.
Women are far outnumbering men when it comes to buying charitable gifts, with 79 per cent of Oxfam Unwrapped customers being female.
But Leigh Stewart said it isn’t too late for men to reverse the trend.
“Being sensitive to the needs of others is a feature women love in men so there’s no better way to show that than with an Oxfam Unwrapped card,” Ms Stewart said.
“We’d like to see more men going into the shops, because it’s clear that this is the sort of gift that women love.”
Oxfam Unwrapped is Oxfam Australia’s donation program with 44 cards that each outline ways the international aid agency works to help people around the world overcome poverty.
New gifts on offer this year include the humble blanket, priced at $40, which can become an essential survival tool after a natural disaster.
Prices range from the $10 chicken to the $3000 water quality testing kit that monitors water quality in a natural disaster, so there is a way for people on any budget to assist Oxfam’s work.
To view and buy an Oxfam Unwrapped E-card visit www.oxfamunwrapped.com.au. For a list of shop locations visit: www.oxfamshop.org.au/retail_nearest.
For media enquiries call Oxfam Australia Media Coordinator Sunita Bose on 0407 555 960.
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