Christmas is a busy time in retail as it is every year with everyone in doing their last minute Christmas shopping right up until the big man arrives. Christmas can also be a very expensive time of year with spending this year being 14% higher in 2024 than that of 2023 (up from €1,030 in 2023 to €1,177 in 2024) according to recent figures published by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) in their CCPC Christmas Shopping Research Report December 2024 Report.

Some key findings of the report include:

• Three in five consumers will dip into savings to cover Christmas spending, but one in five plan to borrow an average of €631 using a credit product
• More than half (54%) of consumers will take more than a month to pay off their Christmas debt, indicating that they should shop around for the best form of credit
• Average expected spend is 14% higher this Christmas than last (up from €1,030 in 2023 to €1,177 in 2024).

On the spending aspect of the report it is as follows:

• Those aged 35 to 54 expect to spend the most (c.€1,400 on average).

• No significant gender or regional differences in expected spending, however those in social class ABC1(ABC1 represents a majority of the working population) expect to spend more than C2DE (€1,366 and €1,071 respectively).

• Average expected spending is higher for all age groups compared to in 2023.

As somebody who works in retail Christmas is a very busy time of year for consumers and it is expected to continue as we enter 2025 right up until the new year period.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) commissioned Ipsos B&A to conduct research into consumer behaviours and intentions relating to shopping during the Christmas period 2024.

The report was carried out in October 2024 and based on 1,000 interviews, conducted among a representative sample of the Irish population.

You can read the full report on Spending habits on the CCPC website