Christmas 2022 will be marked by inflation and savings. Households are planning to change some habits to cope with inflation and uncertainty. The surveys show 2 main changes:
- reduction of the “Christmas meal” budget (36% of French households)
- reduction of the “gifts” budget for 8% (Germany) to 73% (UK) of households depending on the country.
In this article, we share some concrete predictions for Christmas 2022.
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Christmas 2022: projected figures
- 60% to 73% of the British, 66% of the Americans, 67% of the Canadians, and 41% of the French will reduce their gift budget, but only 8% to 21% of the Germans.
- 36% of the French will spend less on end-of-year food purchases
- 33% of the French will reduce the gift budget for children (+18 points compared to 2021)
- 38% of the British will look for gifts from cheaper retailers
- Customers are turning to hard discounters for their year-end food shopping. 35% of the British and 18% of the French will go there for Christmas 2022.
- 11% of Brits are considering buying second-hand gifts for Christmas 2022
Summary
- Introduction
- Uncertainties for the future influence trends for Christmas 2022
- Budgets cut for gifts and food for Christmas 2022
- Different gifts for Christmas 2022?
- Conclusions
Introduction
The trend for Christmas 2022 is consistent for all countries. Surveys in different countries show that consumer reactions to external pressures are fairly consistent. Customers have decided to save in the face of rising prices and uncertainty about the future. This will have multiple repercussions for economic actors counting on Christmas to end the year in style.
Uncertainties for the future influence trends for Christmas 2022
All the survey results show that customers will be cutting back on their budgets for Christmas 2022. The reasons are obvious but deserve to be reminded:
- Price increases (inflation)
- Uncertainty for the future
All of this converges to lower confidence and dampen household spirits. In October 2022, for example, UK household confidence reached a 25-year low, 44 percentage points below its baseline and even lower than 2008 levels.
The situation is less dramatic in the US, where overall confidence is still above the benchmark (102.5 in October 2022).
Budgets cut for Christmas gifts and food in 2022
Uncertainty and soaring prices are logically influencing consumer choices for Christmas 2022. Whatever the country, there is a trend toward a reduction in the gift budget:
- gifts, even for children
- food for the end-of-year meals
Decreasing gift budget…
All surveys agree that there will be a substantial reduction in the gift budget for Christmas 2022.
A survey conducted between September and November 2022 in Germany shows that even on the other side of the Rhine, 8 to 23% of customers expect a substantial reduction. This forecast is much less alarming than in other developed countries:
- France: 27% say their budget will be a little lower, and 14% much lower. In the end, 41% of French consumers plan to reduce their budget, representing an increase of 20 points compared to 2021.
- United Kingdom: a November 2022 survey announces a reduction in the gift budget for 60% of British consumers; another survey in September 2022 forecasts a 73% reduction. In either case, the blowback will be significant for British retailers counting on Christmas to recover from the year.
- United States: even in the United States, where morale still seems relatively high, the gift budget will be down for 66% of consumers.
… even for the children
While children are usually spared from savings, Christmas 2022 will be a notable exception. After Christmas 2021, placed under the sign of the joy of being reunited with their loved ones after the end of the pandemic, consumers plan to spend less on their children.
In France, for example, 9% of households will spend much less, and 24% a little less, on gifts for the youngest. 33% of consumers will cut their children’s gift budget. Compared to Christmas 2021, the difference is large (+18 points).
Food rethought for Christmas 2022
Habits are constantly being changed. After a Christmas 2020 in small groups due to confinement, a Christmas 2021 under the seal of reunion, the Christmas meal 2022 will be placed under the sign of savings.
Christmas 2022 will be marked by the search for “good deals” on food, and the hard discounters will take advantage of this. Thus 35% of British people plan to buy all or part of their Christmas food from a discounter, compared to 18% of French people. However, the latter’s increase remains spectacular, as they were only 11% in 2021 (+7 points).
We can therefore see a clear change in habits. Consumers do not want to deprive themselves but are looking to optimize the quality/price ratio by opting for cheaper alternatives.
Different gifts for Christmas 2022?
The other interesting change for Christmas 2022 is the type of gifts. As mentioned above, consumers will be looking for bargains.
This quest will take the form of second-hand gifts for 11% of the British. On the other side of the Channel, 74% of the French say they are more attentive to bargains when shopping for the holidays. This is 17% more than in 2021.
Even if the time is ripe for the energy crisis, none of the surveys consulted show a trend toward energy vouchers. On the other hand, gifts of money are still popular. Cash is Germany’s second most popular gift, with an average amount of 129€.
Conclusion
In 2022 Christmas will again have a special flavor. After the confinement in 2020 and the deconfinement in 2021, we will have to face a great gloom this year.
Consumers are pessimistic and are ready to change their habits to prepare for the year 2023, which does not look good. To reduce their budgets, consumers will give up certain pleasures at Christmas and look for “good deals” to save money. As a sign that the situation is serious, even children will have to participate in this sobriety effort.
Posted in Marketing.
