Christmas 2026 what's trending and how to turn it into sales with Hannah Bartlett

You've hit on something really interesting there, Nicole, because I think we were seeing interesting last year that that kind of Christmas creep, as we call it, almost reversing, and people were a little bit fed up of the idea of Christmas so early, so they were going a little bit later with their purchases.

Maybe researching for longer, but actually hitting, um, you know, buy or add to cart that little bit later.

But this year we've almost seen a complete reversal again.

So we've got these kind of two camps, and, um, PwC came out with their consumer report very recently, um, which shared that actually 14% of consumers have already started buying for Christmas in August this year.

I think so much heat, we were just desperate to think about something else, and so we were out and about, and we were shopping for Christmas.

And, um, 16 further percent, so that's, um, well, they said they were gonna start buying earlier, so that's 30%, nearly one in three people who are looking to start shopping earlier.

But then you've got on the flip side of that, we know that people are also waiting that bit longer, as I say, and the kind of the feedback that did come in from last year to hit buy because they want to see what deals are out there.

They want to see, make sure that they do do extensive research, so they know that they're getting value for money.

They know they're getting the best option that they can.

So you've kind of got two kind of polarized approaches to Christmas, and it's really then a juggle and a balancing act for businesses to make sure that they're talking to both those audiences.

And why is it that you think people are buying into Christmas earlier this year?

I think it, it's absolutely there's a cost of living, balancing, spreading that cost over a longer period of time.

As I say, finding products and knowing that they've got value for money, so wanting to make sure that you've secured that product.

Uh, there's a bit of FOMO around, you know, people are worried about things, um, selling out, epe- especially if they've seen something that's gone viral on socials.

And then I think it's just for the joy of it, right? [chuckles] As I say-

Yeah

...

it was a long, hot summer, and I think people n- were enjoying the pleasure of being outdoors but needing to balance the, the, the heat, the relentless heat with some kind of slightly cooler thoughts.

Um, and then also just life is hard.

Yeah.

So wanting to enjoy actually looking forward to something and, you know, we're fed up of trying to save up for things we're never gonna be able to afford, so let's just actually enjoy the things that we can.

I've actually bought, and I've never bought Christmas this early before, but I've bought something that's Christmas related for myself about three weeks ago, so I fit into that.

[chuckles]

And it's something that I would n- it's a Cath Kidston Christmas stitching thing, which I would never, like that is so not me, but it's like a crafty thing and I'm not even really a craft, I'm not like a crafty person, but I have three weeks ago.

So when we're still in August, I bought something and it, and it was, the marketing was fantastic.