Christmas shopping comes early for Britons in grip of cost crunch

J Sainsbury

15/11/2022 08:00

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      30% of Britons began Christmas shopping before mid-Oct
    

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      Figure last year was 18% - NielsenIQ survey finds
    

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      Budgets stretched by inflation
    

  
    By James Davey
       LONDON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - More Britons began their
Christmas shopping early this year as they navigate a worsening
cost-of-living squeeze by budgeting their spending, market
research group NielsenIQ said.
    In a survey released on Tuesday, which chimes with recent
comments from Marks & Spencer  MKS.L , Sainsbury's  SBRY.L  and
Primark  ABF.L , NielsenIQ said 30% of British consumers started
shopping for Christmas this year before mid-October, which
compared to 18% in 2021.
    Mike Watkins, NielsenIQ's UK head of retailer and business
insight, said: "27% also say they will buy Christmas gifts when
they see them in store", adding that this suggested a "spreading
the cost of Christmas" mindset was even more important as
Britons struggle with rising living costs.
    These costs show no sign of easing, and with inflation at a
40-year high of 10.1% and consumer confidence close to the
gloomiest on record, people are looking to make savings.
    Nielsen said sales growth at British supermarkets picked-up
over the last month on a value basis, masking a drop in volumes
once inflation is accounted for.    
    It said growth was 5.3% in the four weeks to Nov. 5
year-on-year, having increased 4.7% in last month's data set.
    NielsenIQ said that crisps and snacks and soft drinks were
the only two categories to see volume growth in the four week
period with growth of 2.9% and 0.6% respectively.
    General merchandise volume sales fell 7.6%, it said.
    Echoing data last week from market researcher Kantar,
Nielsen said Asda was the fastest growing of Britain's
traditional big four supermarket groups, also including market
leader Tesco  TSCO.L , Sainsbury's and Morrisons, over the 12
weeks to Nov. 5, with sales growth of 7.6%.
    NielsenIQ forecast 34 billion pounds ($40 billion) will be
spent at supermarket groups in the 12 weeks to Dec. 31, growth
of 4% compared to last year, but with a volume decline of 4%.
 ($1 = 0.8480 pound)  
 (Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Alexander Smith)
 ((james.davey@thomsonreuters.com))