With the switching of Christmas lights in varies locations across Ireland in the past few days and winter’s first cold snap due – the countdown to Christmas has officially started with less than six weeks to go.
With this in mind, 13% of Irish adults say that they would be happy to see retailers stocking Christmas items before November, according to the latest Consumer Insights report from Empathy Research.
A further 72% think November is a reasonable time to start stocking Christmas items while 15% say they should wait until December.
Looking at this by gender, significantly more males think retailers should wait until December before stocking Christmas items (18% vs. 12% females). Over 35s are also more likely to be of this opinion compared to those aged under 35.
Almost one in five 35-44 year olds (16%), 45-54 year olds (18%) and 55+ year olds (18%) would prefer if retailers didn’t stock Christmas items until December.
It comes as no surprise that the vast majority of Irish adults (86%) have already noticed Christmas promotions and stock in stores with retailers gearing up for Christmas sales. Looking at this by gender, females are significantly more likely to have already noticed Christmas promotions or stock (91% vs. 81% males).
The survey of just over 1,000 Irish adults also found that they plan to buy an average of four Christmas selection boxes this year, while over a third (35%) plan to buy more than four selection boxes.
More than 8 out of 10 Irish adults (83%) admit to eating Christmas confectionery before Christmas Day. This was predominantly driven by females (87% vs. 80% males) and younger age groups, with the vast majority of 18-24 year olds (95%) consuming Christmas confectionary in the lead up to Christmas; 25-34 years (86%), 35-44 years (88%), 45-54 years (85%) and 55+ years (72%).
© 2015 - Checkout Magazine by Niall Swan
