Children’s clothing among categories to benefit from more spending, says PwC research.
UK shoppers will spend an average of £420 on Christmas presents this year, according to the latest predictions from PwC.
PwC’s Christmas trading analysis found that those aged between 35 and 44 will spend the most – £522 – while shoppers in Scotland will have the highest average spend of £454 of all the UK regions.
Despite one in five consumers saying they started their Christmas shopping earlier this year and 20% saying they did most of it over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, PwC found that the most popular time for buying Christmas presents is early to mid December.
Consumers also said that they would be spending more on food and drink, including the Christmas dinner, and children’s clothing.
“The first half of the year in particular was very tough, with inflation rising about earnings,” commented Lisa Hooker, consumer markets leader at PwC. “But, there should be some Christmas cheer for retailers as we close off 2018 – our research shows that people will be hitting the shops in earnest this Christmas time.
“Overall, spending levels will be similar to last year, but what people spend their money on may be different – it looks as though more money is being spent on the essentials – Christmas dinner, food and drink and children’s clothing.”
PwC’s report is based on an online survey of more than 2,000 adults from across the UK and was conducted in October 2018.
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