Vinnies Victoria

Making Christmas gifting feel good again

Services
Creative
PR & Culture
Sector
Not-for-profit & Community

Rising costs, crowded shops and the pressure of finding something meaningful have turned Christmas gifting into a source of stress, waste and quiet guilt. For Vinnies, this created an opportunity to shift the story and invite shoppers to rethink how they approach Christmas gifting this year.

Blue graphic with diagonal stripes featuring the words “Gift Good This Christmas” in large white text. A yellow string of festive icons winds through the lettering, including a candy cane, bauble and star, creating a playful Christmas feel.

The Challenge

Australians are increasingly comfortable buying second-hand, yet when it comes to gifting, pre-loved still isn’t seen as a deliberate or desirable choice. To understand how people really feel about Christmas gifting pressures – and their attitudes toward second-hand presents – we ran a national survey. The findings were clear: three in four Australians find the process stressful, and most receive at least one unwanted gift each year. The result is predictable – more waste, more guilt, and a sense that the ritual isn’t giving people what they want.

Front exterior of a Vinnies store with a dark grey façade and open double doors. Large blue window decals on either side read “Gift Good This Christmas” with festive graphics. Blue Vinnies awnings sit above the windows and entrance, and shoppers can be seen entering and browsing inside.

The Solution

The goal was to reframe Christmas gifting by positioning pre-loved not as a compromise, but as a smarter, more thoughtful way to give. The idea centred on a simple promise: pre-loved gifting is good for you (less financial pressure), good for them (unique, thoughtful gifts), and good for everyone (supporting communities and reducing waste).

This came to life through a Gift Good retail takeover. We designed a earned creative concept that was activated on a large scale in Vinnies’ Fitzroy Pop-up store and then rolled out statewide via curated Gift Good sections across the Vinnies retail network.

Social, influencers and sustained PR extended the idea beyond the shopfront and into the peak shopping season – reinforcing one message at every touchpoint: Christmas doesn’t have to come at a huge cost.

Wide interior view of a Vinnies store set up for Christmas, with clothing racks, gift tables and shoppers browsing. Large blue hanging signs read “Gift Good This Christmas” and “Good for you. Good for them. Good for everyone.”
A woman browses a rack of pre-loved clothes inside the flagship Fitzroy Vinnies store. In the background, a large blue sign overhead reads “Gift Good This Christmas,”
A shopper stands between packed aisles inside a Vinnies store, browsing pre-loved clothing and homewares. She holds a blue reusable bag reading “Found it at Vinnies,” surrounded by colourful garments, books, plates and gift items, with campaign signage visible above the racks.
Three sponsored Instagram posts from Vinnies Shops Victoria promoting the Gift Good Campaign on a blue background
Three phone mockups each featuring influencer content captured at the Vinnies flagship Fitzroy shop
Four posters displayed side by side with diagonal stripes and festive icons. They each present a reason to shop at Vinnies this Christmas and a statistic to support this.
Three campaign photos taken at the Vinnies Fitzroy Gift Good Flagship shop shown side by side on a blue, diagonally striped background.
A GIF of an ipad scrolling through the Vinnies Gift Good landing page

The Results

Post launch, one thing became clear very quickly: 2026 is the year of Thriftmas.
Across Victoria, Vinnies stores have recorded:

400,000+ customers served
+6% sales growth vs the same period last year
+4% increase in average customer spend
Nearly 7,000 new VIP Rewards members

Strong earned media coverage has fuelled the excitement, with the AFR, news.com.au, ABC Melbourne and WIN News syndications all driving more shoppers to choose op-shop gifts this Christmas.

To learn more about the Gift Good campaign and the survey results click here.

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