Christmas is one of the most important times for the retail industry; it’s when high streets and shopping centres are at their fullest and, generally, when a significant bulk of online and offline retail sales for the year take place.
VoucherCodes.co.uk has partnered with the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) since 2012 to look into consumer shopping habits in the six week lead-up to Christmas. Over the past eight years, these in-depth reports have documented the evolution of our festive shopping habits; online and mobile sales have grown exponentially, in-store footfall and sales has been on the decline, but the total value of sales over the festive period has risen steadily year over year.
This has been an extraordinary year in so many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profoud affect on consumer behaviour - with the UK's nationwide lockdown in March forcing shoppers off of high streets and onto laptops, tablets, and smartphones. As we approach the festive period, with large gatherings, parties, and nights out unlikley, a question remains as to what impact the pandemic will have on our retail spending for Christmas.
This report, analyses the prospects for retailers and consumers in the run-up to Christmas 2020 across seven European countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain and the UK.
Christmas spending in this report relates to retail spend taking place in the six week period between mid-November and the end of December. The report covers all key shopping dates across the Christmas shopping calendar, including Black Friday and the Cyber Weekend, Singles Day, and the January sales.
This first instalment in a series of reports focuses on the festive shopping season as a whole, forecasting total retail spend compared to 2019 and examining the potential impact of COVID-19 for retail.
The report reveals spend in the UK this Christmas is set to rise by 1.6% compared to 2019, with total spend for the festive period estimated to total £83.13 billion.
To see the full festive season forecast for the UK and Europe please download the report below.
