It may be the middle of summer (and hopefully hot and sunny where you are) but eyes are already turning towards the Christmas peak season. And it seems that it’s no longer just an activity for winter months dominated by Black Friday until the big day itself.
According to an ICM poll of 2000 people on behalf of Criteo, it seems that many Brits are already shopping in earnest for Christmas 2017. Apparently people have already spent £2bn on this coming Christmas. According to the survey, 15% of respondents have already spent more than £200 on Christmas shopping. 30% have spent more than £100. But perhaps most astonishingly (Worringly? – Ed.) 12% claim to have already done all or most of their shopping.
We can only speculate about the reasons why people are already shopping for Christmas. Certainly, with household budgets under squeeze according to many reports, it could be a case of sensible spending and spreading the cost of Christmas out over the course of the year. And perhaps it’s a case of canny consumers surfing seasonality and buying goods while they’re cheaper, perhaps in the sales, before seasonal prices are inflated. But what is clear is that it may be worth you thinking about Christmas now (if you haven’t already.)
Thomas Jeanjean at Criteo says: “We’re not even half way through the year but it’s clear that shoppers everywhere are already thinking about Christmas. With shopping easier today than ever before thanks to smartphones, tablets and ever-improving in-store experiences, people simply aren’t waiting to get a head start on their December spending! For retailers, this means early engagement with shoppers is essential if they’re going to satisfy those people looking to get ahead of the game come Christmas. More importantly however, by investing in Christmas now, brands everywhere will be going a long way towards establishing a loyal customer base ready for when the real spending kicks in towards the end of the year.
Source”timesofindia”]