Christmas comes early for retailers

Dec 20, 2023

Daily effectiveness insights, curated by WARC’s editors.

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Stores are stocking Christmas items early again; with tentpole occasions critical to driving spending in a time of tighter budgets and online competition, it’s a sign that deeper economic and technological currents are critical to Christmas 2023.

When it comes to Christmas, timing is everything. Get it right and it can make a financial year, get it wrong and people tire of the occasion. Or at least they say they do; there’s little evidence that people who complain about Christmas items in summer buy less in the festive season.

But we’re into different financial times, with cost increases across the board meaning that some shoppers need to spread out their purchases ahead of what is usually an incredibly busy and expensive time for many people.

CNN reports some of the expert views around why some shoppers are beginning to spot festive items such as decorations in stores – events not only seen in the US, but also in some UK supermarkets and discounters.

However, the rise of potent, and often search-driven online retail channels like Amazon are having an outsized effect.

For brands, Christmas is a difficult balance of celebrating the time of year while hammering home the marketing basics, especially the fact that a great Christmas activation can yield benefits over the full year.

There’s also a fine line to walk between catering to Christmas trends – according to some UK retailers this means the year of vegan treats, non-traditional centrepiece dishes, and low or no-alcohol drinks – and carving out a distinctive and memorable path through the Christmas melee.

Seasonal specials, like Starbucks’ pumpkin spice latte, are important signals of the year. But some retail experts caution against rolling it out earlier each year so as to saturate the market and diminish its ability to drive seasonal sales.

Sourced from CNN, The Guardian, Stoke Sentinel, WARC, Retail Gazette

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