With Christmas rapidly approaching, many of us are officially getting ready for a festive day, spent with family and friends. While shopping for presents often takes place online, most of us still have to go to the supermarket to get our groceries. And if you belong to that group, there’s one day in particular to avoid.
According to data assembled by Kantar, Monday, 23 December is set to be the busiest pre-Christmas day at the supermarket. Although one might think the 24th would be even busier, apparently, people avoid doing their groceries on Christmas Eve.
However, while you better avoid going to the supermarket on 23 December, this doesn’t mean that the days around that date won’t be busy as well. Still, according to Kantar, people are already stocking up.
“There are clear signs that shoppers are already stocking up their cupboards. Sales of assorted sweet biscuits and biscuits for cheese both doubled in November compared with the month before, while 8% of us bought a Christmas pudding. Many of us take the chance to treat ourselves at this time of year and retailers are rolling out seasonal product lines to help us celebrate in style. The proportion of spending on premium own-label products reached 5% over the last four weeks and we expect it to climb even higher in December to nearly 7%”, Kantar’s report reads.
Kantar’s survey also looked into the broader Christmas trends. According to the report, the average Christmas dinner for four will cost £32.57 (or €39.23) in 2024. That amount has gone up by 6.5% compared to last year, a rise essentially caused by the price of turkey and Christmas vegetable staples.
If you want to avoid as much of the crowds as possible, it would be a good idea to already get all your Christmas grocery shopping done this week. Alternatively, you could look into the option of getting your groceries prepared for you or even delivered to your home, although time slots might be sparse this time of year. As Christmas is also a good occasion to treat yourself to something a little out-of-the-ordinary, don’t forget your local food producers when putting together a menu.
