Christmas shoppers are planning their own spending cuts this Christmas in defiance of the Bank of England’s plea to “Spend, spend, spend” to boost the economy.
A survey by the business intelligence analysts Retail Active found that four out of ten shoppers say they plan to spend less or much less on Christmas than last year.
Retail Active’s managing director, Julian Chamberlain said: “We asked 2000 people for details of their Christmas shopping plans and 1394 responded.
Just over half (51%) said the uncertain state of the economy made them worried about spending money on Christmas.
“Families say they plan to save on Christmas spending this year, wherever possible – with more than nine out of ten saying they are going to spend under their limits this Christmas.
“Times are tight and our survey shows that people are resorting to selling belongings to raise cash, dipping into savings and using credit cards for Christmas purchases.
“Competition on the High Street is vicious and there is firm evidence that retailers are bringing forward their January sale prices now in an attempt to encourage shoppers to spend and beat the January increase in VAT.
“The high street is highly price sensitive with retailers under pressure to achieve revenue forecasts during the “golden quarter.”
“The fact that more than a third of shoppers surveyed reported that they had already completed ninety five per cent of their Christmas shopping before the end of November is an ill omen for high street retailers hoping for a late surge in spending.”
