We're counting down the days, Christmas is almost upon us and we'll be spending more over the next six weeks than we typically would.
The average UK household spends more than £800 extra in December, including a 20% increase in spend on Food and 30% on Alcohol. This makes December by far the biggest month of the year for the FMCG industry.
To get you into the spirit, here are 8 Fun Facts about Christmas Shopping:
1. UK consumers are the biggest Christmas spenders in Europe.
UK consumers intend to spend an average of £567 on Christmas. This is 42% more than the European average (£400). The UK is the highest spending market in Europe ahead of Spain (£526) and Austria (£475).
We splash out more on gifts than our European counterparts. More than half of a consumer's Christmas budget (53%) will be spent on gifts compared to 43% on average in Europe.
2. Most UK shoppers start Christmas shopping in October or November.
We all know at least one of those super-organised people who start planning for Christmas in the first half of the year. In fact, one in ten Brits claim to start their Christmas shopping in July or earlier, with an aim to spread the cost throughout the year.
Just over half of us claim to start our shopping 2-3 months before Christmas and a quarter of us don't get started until December. If you leave it all until the last week, you're not alone as 12% of UK shoppers claim that most of their Christmas shopping is left until the week before Christmas.
3. Black Friday has been part of the UK festive period for 11 years and remains popular.
Black Friday was introduced to UK consumers by Amazon in 2010 but it wasn't until 2013 when ASDA took part that it really started to take off.
Which? published research in 2020 showed that 98% of Black Friday deals were available for the same price or cheaper at other times of the year.
Despite this, Black Friday in 2020 saw google shopping searches grow 31%.
56% of people plan to stick online for the best deals, so it's important to make sure your activity is visible online during this period.
4. When it comes to presents, we spend the most on our kids.
Parents plan to spend an average of £153 on their kids, which makes up almost half of the present budget for family members. 18% of parents plan to spend more than £300 on presents for their offspring.
When cutting back on the cost of Christmas, gifts for children is the last place families would look to save money.
5. Shopping around means you can get a Christmas dinner for as little as £2.72 per head.
Shopping around at different supermarkets for the cheapest option means families can spend as little as £2.72 per person on Christmas dinner (based on 2020 prices).
Unsurprisingly, most of the ingredients would have to come from Aldi or Lidl, but you would also have to make trips to Iceland and M&S to make the most of the savings.
6. The majority of us buy our turkey in advance.
Prior to WWII we would have been most likely to opt for a goose. Today 76% of families in the UK tuck into roast turkey on Christmas day. A quarter of us buy our turkeys months in advance and 20% of us will pay more for good quality.
We've already seen an increased demand in frozen turkeys in 2021, as shoppers worry about availability as we get closer to the big day.
7. Online is winning as we move our Christmas spend away from the high street.
The proportion of retail sales being made through physical stores has been falling for years. It dropped from 75.6% in 2015 to 68.5% in 2018 and experienced its lowest ever sales through the 2020 Christmas period.
Unlike the high street, supermarkets have has been less affected by the move to online.
8. More recently, mobiles have changed how we shop at Christmas.
Shopping with smartphones or tablets rose to 54.2% of all online retail spending last Christmas.
We're also using our mobiles when we're in physical stores to check prices, look up additional product information or even to order items we see from other retailers!
The Christmas period is a time where we're all willing to spend a little more on food, drinks and each other. It's vital that brands are offering relevant products and keeping up with the evolving shopping landscape to ensure they are maximising this moment.
How can these fun facts help you plan your Christmas activities this year and beyond?
Have a wonderful Christmas period!
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