Christmas shopping trends according to the British Retail Consortium

With Christmas now not far away, many are watching closely to see how shoppers navigate the pressures of the season.

Transcript

00:00So, what we have to think about is that we're coming out of this period of fairly high inflation.

00:07And so, that's had a clear effect on just how much consumers are paying for the goods

00:12that they're buying. And what we've been noticing over the past few months is that the weight

00:17of shoppers' shopping baskets is getting heavier. So, that's to say that sales volumes are higher

00:23than a year ago. But what we are seeing is that the amount paid for goods is starting

00:28to ease somewhat a little bit. And that's partly driven by that easing inflation that

00:33I've been talking about.

00:34With the cost of living crisis continuing to impact household budgets, both consumers

00:39and retailers have had to make big adjustments to how they approach this time of the year.

00:44Especially over the past year or so, consumers are really thinking twice about making particular

00:48purchases. Now, we have seen a bit of discounting going on in mainly non-food categories, so

00:54items of fashion, electrical items, all in an effort to spur consumer spending. And that

01:00has borne out. So, for instance, one really good performer over the past couple of months

01:06has been audio devices, so phones. So, a recent iPhone came out in September. So, that's one

01:15category where we've seen a bit of discounting going on and that's performed fairly well.

01:19How are retailers preparing for the potential challenges this festive season, such as supply

01:24chain issues, staffing shortages or those changing consumer behaviours?

01:28So, retailers have been moving slightly earlier than they normally would. So, typically, they'd

01:34start their hiring around about October, potentially slipped into November as well. But, you know,

01:39they've had a few scarring incidents, if you like. So, we've had the supply chain disruption

01:44that you've mentioned. We had the HGV lorry driver shortage, if you can cast your mind

01:49back a few years ago. So, all of that is to say that retailers are being a bit more

01:54cautious and moving slightly earlier. So, we're seeing that hiring window shift into September.