Consumers in England are getting organised with their Christmas shopping this year, with a significant proportion saying they will use lockdown to shop online for gifts, according to Emarsys.
A fifth of consumers in England (22 per cent) will complete their Christmas shopping online during lockdown, while 16 per cent say they’ve finished their Christmas shopping already, an Emarsys survey found last week.
Nearly a third (29 per cent), however, are planning on waiting until lockdown ends to do their festive shopping, and just six per cent are planning on taking advantage of the Black Friday sales on 27 November to buy Christmas gifts.
Consumers in Wales are ahead of consumers in other parts of the UK, with a quarter (24 per cent) saying that they have already completed their Christmas shopping, helped in part by the drive to online shopping during the recent circuit breaker lockdown— which lifted on 9 November.
These findings come from a recent survey of 1,000 UK consumers conducted by Emarsys to find out how COVID-19 restrictions are affecting consumers’ spending behaviour.
Alex Timlin, SVP of Verticals at Emarsys, said, “With no guarantee that lockdown in England will end on 2 December, it’s no surprise that consumers want to get their Christmas shopping done early this year to ensure deliveries arrive on time.
“However, it’s important that brands look at Black Friday sales figures in context. Amazon Prime Day meant that a lot of UK retailers had to start their Black Friday sales early, which means that figures on the day might be lower than expected, but brands must look at the holiday season as a whole.
“Having said all that, the retail industry might even see reduced spend in the holiday period because of the threat of an extended lockdown and ban against households mixing — as people are less likely to buy presents for those they don’t see in person! From our own data, it’s clear that footwear and women’s apparel is already being hit hard this year.”
Year-to-date online sales growth in footwear are down 11.7 per cent, while online sales of clothing are down 7.7 per cent, according to data from IMRG and Capgemini.