Romanian shoppers start their Christmas shopping early, according to research conducted by Shopfully, a European drive-to-store solutions provider operating in 25 countries. Around 42% of Romanians start Christmas shopping on Black Friday, November 6, when they look for gifts at better prices.
Meanwhile, 18% will start planning their shopping during October, and only 11% will leave their shopping until the last minute, in December. By contrast, 14% of participants say they have not planned any Christmas purchases this year.
According to the same survey, Romanians prefer physical stores when looking for Christmas gifts, with six in ten saying they intend to shop this way, while 28% choose a mix of online and offline shopping, and only 11% prefer to shop exclusively online.
When it comes to discovering offers and gift ideas, 41% indicated digital catalogs and online brochures. Printed catalogs were mentioned by 29%, while 27% prefer to find inspiration directly in stores, and 21% of shoppers browse retailers’, brands’, and e-commerce platforms’ websites.
“For some shoppers, Black Friday and Christmas are not two separate moments, but stages of the same shopping period. Offers discovered online can influence which stores they choose to visit, and retailers need relevant, easy-to-find communication, including at the local level. It is important for them to be present during the research stage, not just at the moment of purchase,” said Cătălin Pațachia, Shopfully Country Manager.
The same survey shows that artificial intelligence has become a shopping assistant and a tool for comparing prices as well as finding the best offers. As such, 35% of respondents are considering using artificial intelligence when researching purchases.
By contrast, the same percentage of shoppers still prefer not to use any AI tools and to find the stores and products they need on their own.
Although most people know how to use artificial intelligence, almost 20% say they are still unfamiliar with these tools for shopping assistance.
This year, the Black Friday budget is estimated at around RON 1,000 by nearly half of the study participants, while 29% do not have a fixed budget, and 10% say they do not want to spend any money.
For Christmas gifts and Black Friday offers, Romanians choose clothing, footwear, and accessories, as well as home goods, decorations, and furniture. Each of these categories was mentioned by 35% of study participants, while food and beverages were chosen by 31%, children's toys by 22%, and 20% said they would buy new electronic products, phones, laptops, televisions, or smart devices.
The Shopfully study was conducted in October 2026 on a representative sample of respondents from Romania.