Muted Christmas Cheer

This year's Christmas shoppers are feeling cautious, according to MINTEL's latest UK Retail Briefing. One in ten (10%) adults say that they will be spending 'a lot less than last year' whereas only 5% said this 12 months ago. The report looks at online buying intentions, projected spend and the types of present in and out of fashion.

While last year well over half (54%) of British adults said that they 'usually spend more than they plan to' at Christmas, this has fallen to just 44% this year and more people than ever are also planning to stick to their budget. Back in 2003, 15% of adults said that they 'tend to go into debt over Christmas', by increasing their overdraft, spending on their credit card or even taking out a loan: this has fallen rapidly to only one in ten this year.

Scots are among the merriest at Christmas, with an impressive 24% planning to spend in excess of £500 on presents, compared to just one in ten (10%) in Wales, the West and the South West. In London and the South, just 27% of adults are defined by MINTEL as 'enjoyers' of Christmas - the lowest in the country.

Across the UK fewer than half (47%) really enjoy buying Christmas presents and around the same number say that they actually find buying presents a chore. One in four (25%) are 'apathetic' towards Christmas and say they do not really put a lot of thought into their shopping.

MINTEL's Richard Perks puts the lack of spending confidence down to increased interest rates and the uncertainty of the housing market: 'Many people are now starting to feel the pinch and are less inclined to borrow money. This means that although this is unlikely to be a bad Christmas, many people may well be reining in their spending. What is more, we have no doubt that there will be some discounting in the run-up to Christmas in order to get stocks back into balance'.

Another key finding is 'the sharp decline in planned usage of traditional shopping locations in favour mainly of the Internet' according to Perks. 'Internet shopping still has many drawbacks, but at Christmas the attraction of convenience over-rides many of the shortcomings'. For the first time, the Internet has overtaken catalogues in terms of Christmas spending intentions: three in ten (30%) people say that they will do some or all of their Christmas shopping on-line, compared to less than a quarter (23%) in 2003. One in ten (10%) actually prefer doing their Christmas shopping on-line, while one in three (32%) say that they like to browse the Internet for ideas or to compare prices. Among 25 - 34 year olds the proportion buying online for Christmas rises to a half.

The report also covers the intended total spend and the type of presents sought. The average Brit is intending to spend around £333 on Christmas presents. Almost half of men say that they leave Christmas shopping until the last minute, compared to just over one in four women (27%). The majority of shoppers (80%) will be buying clothing, shoes and jewellery, along with plenty of pre-recorded CDs and DVDs, while the proportion intending to buy books and traditional toys and games - i.e. non-computer games - has fallen from 67% in 2001 to 59% this year.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

• MINTEL
• All news
• MrWeb info