Independent butchers winning shoppers this Christmas
Meat is topping the bill of items that Christmas shoppers would be open to pre-order this festive period, with 37% of them stating they were likely to buy items from independent butchers.
According to YouGov research conducted for digital and customer experience agency Wunderman, although 50% of shoppers surveyed claimed they would not be willing to pre-order food items, 14% said they would be open to pre-ordering meat.
In addition, when shoppers were asked where they were likely to buy items beyond their usual stores, independent butchers received the greatest number of responses, at 37%.
More than a quarter, or 29%, said they will do their Christmas shop at their usual stores, however, 49% said they would also go to shops they did not usually frequent.
When it came to premium grocery brands, Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference was named by most respondents as their preferred trade-up option (13%), with Morrisons’ The Best range just behind (12%), followed by Tesco Finest (10%).
Both M&S and Waitrose were named by 4%, while independent delis are set to be frequented by only 9%, the research found.
Meat was in the top three in the list for items that shoppers prefer to buy in person, at 63%, as shoppers showed a preference for buying some Christmas staples in-store.
What’s more, one in six people (16%) said that they would spend an extra £26-50 on Christmas food compared to their usual monthly grocery bill – but 19% will spend more than £100 extra.
The survey was carried out online and asked over 2,000 Britons about the food and drink they plan to buy this Christmas.
Rob Curran, head of customer experience at Wunderman.
Commenting on the findings, Rob Curran, head of customer experience at Wunderman, said: “Christmas is clearly of huge importance to British shoppers, and they think long and hard about how they are going to organise and plan it.
“Retailers need to have a better understanding of the motivations of shoppers at one of their most important trading periods.”
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