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Retailers are hoping for a last-minute dash for the shops this weekend after a lacklustre run-up to Christmas, with UK households forecast to spend £3.4bn, up more than 12% on the same weekend in 2024.
Almost 50m shopping trips will be made by last-minute Father Christmases over the weekend, according to research by analysts GlobalData for Vouchercodes.co.uk, the vast majority of which will be to retail destinations including high streets and shopping malls.
Retailers are hoping for a late rush for presents this year as Christmas Day falls on a Thursday, leaving three days after the weekend when many will take time off to stock up.
Super Saturday (20 December) is set to be the busiest day, with 26.5 million people predicted to spend £1.75bn on festive purchases.
Experts said it was likely that consumers had been holding off purchasing their Christmas items until they had a clearer picture of their own finances in light of the budget. A later run also allows more time to save, with many people receiving their monthly pay packet over the next few days.
After a muted Black Friday, shoppers have also been holding out for last-minute bargains in the annual game of chicken with retailers for whom Christmas is a vital part of their year when most – if not all – profits are made.
After a relatively mild autumn and winter, clothing retailers, such as Primark, New Look and H&M, have already launched discounts in a bid to tempt out cautious shoppers, with retailers such as Currys suggesting last month’s budget has not improved consumer sentiment.
On Friday, the toy specialist The Entertainer launched discounts of up to 60% on more than 950 toys and games in stores, also suggesting trade has not been booming.
Zoe Morris, a savings expert at VoucherCodes.co.uk, said: “No matter how organised you think you’ve been, there’s always a few Christmas essentials that catch you out and have you dashing to the shops. And this year, Brits are leaving their shopping to the very last second, with an extra 10 million people set to make a purchase this ‘panic weekend’ compared to last year (39.3m) – that’s 26.2% more shoppers.”
The later run is expected to benefit high street shops as concerns about online orders arriving on time increase closer to 25 December.
Many retailers, such as Next and Currys, cut off next-day deliveries by 22 December, although some such as Marks & Spencer and John Lewis allow shoppers to leave online orders until 23 December if they pick up in stores. Some introduce additional charges for deliveries during this peak period further prompting a shift to high street shopping.
This weekend also kicks off the battle for the festive dinner plate. Morrisons, Aldi and Lidl have cut the price of festive veg to just 5p while Sainsbury’s and Tesco were charging 15p. Both Tesco and Morrisons are also giving out free carrots to children next week.
The battle to offer the cheapest turkey is also intensifying. Tesco has cut the price of its small, medium and large whole turkeys to £2.50 a kilo for Clubcard members. This is cheaper than the supermarket’s equivalent offers both last year and the year before, with a small bird that serves six costing £7.50. Lidl is matching this deal on its small turkeys.
Retailers are hoping spending will come through after a pre-Christmas interest rate cut from the Bank of England on Thursday, despite low consumer confidence and signs that shoppers have been cutting back.
More than a third of shoppers say they will be spending less as a result of the autumn budget, according to a recent survey by advisory firm RSM, with a similar amount saying they will spend the same and 27% expecting to spend more.
Jacqui Baker, the head of consumer markets at RSM UK, said: “In the near to medium term caution is king. The budget gave consumers little comfort over the outlook of the UK economy and appears to have exacerbated an already cautious consumer. Households are battening down the hatches on spending.”
The advisory firm Accenture said its research suggested a slightly more positive mood with more than half of people in Britain set to keep the Christmas budget steady – turning to budget supermarkets or cutting back on presents to offset inflation. Some are also using AI chatbots to seek out bargains.
Matt Jeffers, the retail strategy lead at Accenture’s UK business, said: “After several years of managing a high cost of living, our data suggests that this year we’re seeing some signs of cautious consumer confidence returning, but people are still hovering above the brakes, and fine-tuning their spending to make Christmas work on their terms.”
