£555 million to be spent on Christmas Eve
Many people have left their Christmas shopping until the last minute, with up to 20 million UK adults expecting to need to hit the shops on Christmas Eve, according to new research from Sainsbury's Credit Cards.
The findings indicate that 42% of adults expect to still be doing some of their Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve. Those people who know how much they will spend anticipate shelling out around £555 million between them on last minute purchases, while an additional 1.9 million people who don't know what they will spend, could add substantially to this.
This is equivalent to at least £23 million an hour or £385,000 per minute. On average just over 8% of people's festive spending will take place on Christmas Eve. However, 1.4 million people intend to do more than half of their Christmas shopping then and nearly 600,000 will be doing over 80% of their shopping.
The bank's research also indicates that around 29% of last-minute spending conducted this week would be placed on credit cards with around 11 million people intending to put half or more of this on their credit cards. One in five (8.4 million people) shoppers intends to place more than 80% on credit cards. Many of these people will not be rewarded for their card spend, however, as 68% of credit cards on the market don't offer rewards.
Sainsbury's Nectar Credit Card rewards customers with double Nectar points on their Sainsbury's shopping, in store, online and in petrol filling stations for two years. The extra Nectar points are equivalent to an additional one per cent off their Sainsbury's shopping bill. These points can be further boosted when held in conjunction with other selected Sainsbury's Finance products. The maximum reward available, when combined with the base points already earned in Sainsbury's is worth the equivalent of 6% off Sainsbury's shopping, which for a family spending £150 per week on groceries and petrol in store equates to an annual saving of £468.
Stuart McKeggie, Head of Sainsbury's Credit Cards said: "Once again there looks set to be a mad dash to the shops on Christmas Eve as many people leave their shopping to the last minute. The extreme weather conditions this December have wreaked havoc with people's shopping plans which means that some of us will be dashing around the shops later than perhaps hoped.
"Many shoppers intend to use credit cards for their last minute Christmas shopping, which can be a safe and convenient way to shop and can provide great rewards for using them if you choose the right one. It is important to ensure that you have the right card for you in terms of the rate, the introductory deal and the rewards on offer."
Men are slightly more likely to leave some of their Christmas shopping until the last minute, with 45% of men saying they would be doing some festive shopping on Christmas Eve, compared with 39% of women. It would appear that there is a marked difference in last-minute shopping between different age groups, with 47% of adults aged between 25 and 34 years saying they intended to make festive purchases on the eve of Christmas, compared with 31% of those aged 65 or over.
Those living in Yorkshire and the Humberside region are the most behind with their presents - on average 55% of people expect to still be finishing their shopping on Christmas Eve, followed by Londoners at 50%. Despite the snow, those in Scotland and the East Midlands are the most organised with a third (33%) of people in both of these areas expecting to still be out shopping at the last minute.