Selfish' Christmas predicted

Maureen Hinton, head of research at Verdict, said: 'We are cutting back on peripheral spending, on the knick knacks and secret Santa presents for work colleagues' Photo: GETTY

Shoppers are expected to cut back on spending this Christmas for the first time in at least 20 years, according to a leading retail research company Verdict.

The company predicts overall retail spend in the final three months of this year will fall by £535 million, or just under 1 per cent, compared with a year ago. This will be the first fall since at least 1989, when records started.
However, it predicts that while spend on presents, especially electrical gadgets, homewares and clothing will fall quite substantially, the amount of money consumers spend on food and drink will increase by £723 million, or an increase of £14 per person.

In contrast, the average spend on presents and non-food will decrease by about £25 per person.

Maureen Hinton, head of research at Verdict, said: "We are cutting back on peripheral spending, on the knick knacks and secret Santa presents for work colleagues.

"There is an element of selfishness about it, but spending on food and drink is all about treating your immediate family well."

The Verdict prediction came on the same day as a survey from the BBC Good Food magazine, which suggested that 30 per cent of its readers intended to spend less money on Christmas presents, compared with just 10 per cent saying they will spend more.

However, the great majority of readers intend to spend the same or more money on food and drink this year.

Gillian Carter, the editor, said: "The credit crunch has had an upside, with more people choosing to spend time with their nearest and dearest rather than spending more money on them.

"You could call it selfish, because you get to enjoy the food that you have spent the money on, but I think is all about security, and spending time inside your home with your family."

Despite the economy being in a dire state a year ago, with many consumers hit hard by the financial crisis, overall spend actually increased during Christmas 2008 compared with the previous, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Sales in the final quarter increased by 2.3 per cent.

This was in part fuelled by record levels of discounting by retailers, trying to sell a glut of stock. This year, pre-Christmas sales are expected to be less generous because many retailers have cut back on their ordering.

Also, Verdict points out that following the demise of Woolworths, MFI, Zavvi and other leading retailers, there are just fewer shops on the high street. "If you take capacity out of the high street, spend will tend to fall," said Ms Hinton.