This year’s festive season is seeing fewer impulse buys and more deliberate spending. Consumers are still planning to give gifts, but they are narrowing their focus. The winners are likely to be those offering products that feel thoughtful, practical, or personal. Generic and disposable items are falling out of favour.
Grocery and food gifting remains robust. Even with budget pressure, shoppers continue to spend on what feels essential or indulgent, premium food and drink brands, festive staples, and experiential treats are holding up well. Meanwhile, categories once buoyed by volume, such as novelty items, trend-led accessories, or non-branded goods, are seeing softer intent.
Brands with a clear proposition, or those positioned as useful, high quality, or sustainable, are better aligned with the new mood. So are retailers that can combine gifting with day-to-day relevance, such as home goods, health, or hybrid wellness categories.
Many shoppers are delaying purchases, waiting for promotions or clarity on final costs. Retailers who front-load inventory or discount too early may find they mistime demand. Flexibility, last-minute fulfilment, and pricing discipline may prove more valuable than early positioning.
itim Group plc (LON:ITIM) is a SaaS-based technology company that enables store-based retailers to optimise their businesses to improve financial performance and effectively compete with online competitors. Itim adds retail value by helping multi-channel retailers optimise their business and their stores to improve financial performance and compete more effectively with the “Amazons”.
