We spend the equivalent of two working weeks preparing for Christmas
Christmas is time-consuming. A 2016 survey by the Post Office gift card One4All found that the average Briton spends 66 hours and 44 minutes preparing for Christmas – that’s the equivalent of almost two working weeks in a full-time job. No wonder we’re ready to put our feet up on Christmas Day! Shopping for gifts was the activity that sucked up the most time, according to the survey, followed by shopping for food and decorations. And, interestingly, men spent 53 minutes more than women prepping for the 25th.
Online now accounts for 20% of sales by value
Online shopping is still growing - around 20p of every £1 this Christmas will be spent online – and retailers are upping their game on delivery in response.
Consultants OC&C predict that by 2025, home delivery will be worth 30% (£69bn) of annual retail sales, while click and collect is expected to account for 10% (£23bn). Retailers are, therefore, investing in their delivery services. Brands such as electricals specialist AO.com prioritise a convenient delivery offer, with pick-a-day delivery, next-day delivery and click and collect all designed to take the pressure off time-pressed shoppers.
Top toys for 2018 – the Boxer robot and Lego Harry Potter
Every year brings a new batch of bestsellers, and retailers expect the bestselling toys this season to include Lego’s Harry Potter Hogwarts Express, a plush toy of children’s TV favourite Peppa Pig dressed as a royal guard, and the Boxer robot – a mini robot that reacts to people and plays games. Also high on the list is a Nerf gun that fires lasers instead of the usual foam arrows.
One popular 2017 gift that isn’t going anywhere this year is slime. After first being launched in the 1970s, and sold in eye-catching trash cans, the putty gained a new generation of followers last year on Instagram with a fresh, aesthetically pleasing approach: it’s all about pastel colours and glitter.
The average household spends £500 extra in December
The average household or family spends more than £500 extra in December compared with a normal month, according to research by the Bank of England. And last year, Deloitte estimated that each UK shopper intended to spend about £547 in total. This leads many UK shoppers to start early, in an effort to spread the cost of the spending frenzy. Deloitte found that more than 50% of shoppers try to do most of their Christmas shopping before December. It’s a trend that is likely to continue in coming years, as online shopping continues to pull spend from December into November and even October.
The most popular gift is clothing
The category with the highest spend over Christmas tends to be clothing – those socks, pyjamas and scarves are perennial Christmas favourites.
Meanwhile, as Black Friday gets bigger and bigger, electricals have emerged as the most popular choice for those seeking November deals. The Office for National Statistics said that the promotional weekend helped to produce a 1.1% rise in the quantity of goods bought in November 2017 compared with the previous month, and that sales of electrical household appliances made the biggest contribution to growth.
However, research from PriceWaterhouseCoopers suggests a significant proportion of this is not gift buying at all, but male shoppers buying electricals for themselves. Self-treating has always been a big part of the Christmas spending bonanza, and as online shopping continues to cement its role in consumers’ lives, this shows no sign of abating.
Visit AO.com for great ideas for Christmas gifts and stocking fillers
