UK shoppers aren't spending as much on Christmas this year

Christmas might be sparse in the UK this year. Insurance company Bobatoo ran a survey to determine Christmas shopping plans of 2,000 UK consumers for 2018, and the results showed that shoppers intend to keep this holiday season low-key.

Out of 2,000 British shoppers 66 percent shared that they intend to spend less on total Christmas shopping than they had in previous years. This year, 37 percent of consumers plan to spend under 300 pounds in total on their Christmas presents, with 45 percent of shoppers surveyed sharing that they will only buy presents for between five and ten people. Comparatively, in 2015, the same survey showed that 60 percent of shoppers spent over 500 pounds altogether.

This year’s results are not an anomaly. Shoppers in the UK have been cutting back on Christmas spending in the past few years. In the 2017 survey, 38 percent also had a 300 pound spending limit, and the year before 41 percent shared they hoped to spend less than 300 pounds.

A quarter of British shoppers have consistently waited until December to start their Christmas shopping, with 24 percent being the average in the December-shopper demographic each year since 2015. This year, there are 53 percent of shoppers who started their shopping this month.

Consumers have also spent more time online shopping as their budgets have decreased. In 2015, online and in-store shopping was almost equal to each other; 55 percent of shoppers did the majority online. This year, however, 65 percent of shoppers will complete most of their Christmas purchasing online. Perhaps the tendency towards digital shopping is allowing shoppers to decrease their Christmas budgets as they can have an easier time comparing pricing and finding a deal.