Nearly three-quarters of Irish shoppers are leaving their main Christmas grocery shop until this week, with nearly one in four leaving it as late as Friday or the weekend. This is according to Nielsen, a global performance management company.
The research finds that Irish shoppers say they’re planning to spend less on Christmas groceries this year. Fifteen percent of shoppers say they’ll spend a lot less than last year – only 2% say they’ll spend a lot more – whilst 20% report spending a bit less, compared to 15% who’ll spend a bit more. Friday 22nd is set to be the biggest grocery shopping day of the year, with one in five (19%) doing their main Christmas grocery shop that day.
Almost 70% of shoppers say they’ll buy something they wouldn’t normally buy if it is on promotion, while 54% say they’re more impulsive when doing the Christmas grocery shop, buying things they wouldn’t normally buy. This probably contributes to the fact that 43% of shoppers report buying too much food in their Christmas shop.
Nielsen say that the early signs are that it’s going to be a particularly good Christmas for the alcohol and confectionary sectors, which saw consumer spend increase 4.2% and 4.0%, respectively, year-on-year to the 3rd December 2017.
A close look at the figures show that 35% of Irish shoppers will use loyalty card vouchers or points they’ve saved up, 25% will cherry-pick products from different supermarkets depending on prices. Thirty percent will employ similar tactics in a discounter and 15% say they’ll do their main Christmas grocery shop at a discounter. Fifteen percent are planning a cross-border shop in Northern Ireland, most commonly for alcohol.
Commenting on the figures, Nielsen’s Commercial Director in Ireland, "It’s not surprising that people are saying they’ll cut back, nearly two-thirds of shoppers worry about money at Christmas, while four in ten say having enough money is their biggest concern over Christmas. Consequently, shoppers will be employing various tactics to save money on the Christmas grocery bill."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
