Just over four in ten (42%) alcohol buyers claim they will be purchasing the alcohol they need for Christmas from the middle of December to the week before Christmas. Recent research on behalf of Checkout and Off-Trade News by Empathy Research, amongst a nationally representative sample of 1,000 adults aged 18+, sought to identify how shoppers behave when it comes to purchasing alcohol over the festive period in the off-trade.
While a sizeable proportion of shoppers will aim to have their alcohol purchases made with some time to spare this Christmas, there will still be one in seven (14%) alcohol buyers who will leave their alcohol purchasing until a few days before Christmas, and indeed until Christmas Eve itself. Those aged 25-34 (18%) years old are most likely to wait until closer to Christmas to make their alcohol purchases.
Almost three in four (73%) alcohol buyers will serve wine with their Christmas dinner this year, however, when it comes to confidence levels in pairing a wine with Christmas dinner, there is a high degree of uncertainty evident. Over half (52%) of all those who will serve wine this Christmas would say they are only fairly confident in their pairing ability, with a further quarter (24%) claiming not to be confident at all.
Almost a quarter (22%) of alcohol buyers claim they will purchase just enough alcohol to last until St. Stephen’s Day, most likely to be those aged under 34 (26%). Nearly three in ten (28%) will purchase enough alcohol to last up until New Year’s Eve, again higher amongst those aged under 34 (32%). While half of all alcohol buyers (50%) claim they usually buy enough alcohol to last until after New Year’s Day, a behaviour which is more prevalent amongst those aged over 45 years old (56%).
Just over a third (34%) of alcohol buyers claim they will purchase more alcohol for consumption on Christmas Day than they would on New Year’s Eve, while only 21% claim they purchase more alcohol for consumption on New Year’s Eve than Christmas day.
For further information and more in-depth analysis on consumer’s alcohol purchasing and consumption behaviour at Christmas time, please contact Robbie Clarke at Empathy Research.
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