Shoppers will find the money to have a good Christmas by simply relegating sorting out any financial difficulties to their New Year’s resolutions list, the report found. One in three Britons (32 per cent) said that although money is tighter this year, they will splash out. The spending could fly in the face of rising interest rates, a slowing housing market and the recent credit crunch.
Mintel forecasts that retail sales this Christmas will be up by between 2 and 3 per cent against last year’s figures.
Mintel director of retail research Richard Perks said: “During 2007 overall spending has slowed, but our research shows that confidence is still remarkably strong. The signs are that nothing is going to come between British shoppers and having a good Christmas this year.”
An element of caution may creep in as those who claim to have a budget they will stick to has risen from fewer than two in five (39 per cent) in 2002 to nearer half (46 per cent) this year. One in five (22 per cent) adults expect to spend less this Christmas than they did last year, compared with just 18 per cent in 2002.
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