Boots, B&M and Halfords see early Christmas demand surge

In its Christmas campaign launch, Boots noted that fragrance sales had risen 22% year on year in October, while premium beauty purchases had increased by 34% compared with the same period the previous year.

A spokesperson for Boots confirmed the retailer’s offering of 35 different Advent calendars were selling at a rapid pace, with some sold out before the beginning of November as customers prepared for the Christmas countdown.

Food gifts were also snapped up by visitors to Boots stores, with sales in October rising 30% year on year. Children’s gifts also proved popular, with sales in this category already up 58% year on year. 

Children’s bicycles experienced an early increase in demand, with Halfords chief executive Graham Stapleton telling Retail Week: “We are definitely seeing customers buy into those Christmas categories at a faster rate than we’ve seen over the last couple of years. Even pre-Covid, we are above the levels [seen] then.”

He said popular categories, such as children’s bicycles and electric bikes, were well stocked. Other areas gaining in popularity at an earlier stage included car-cleaning gift sets, dash cams and sat navs.

In B&M’s half-year results, the high street retailer also emphasised that preparation around stock availability had helped it meet consumer demand in festive categories.

Chief executive Simon Arora told Retail Week: “We took the conscious decision to bring our Christmas ranges in early. Unlike a normal year, where you would have the products drip-fed in October and November, we brought in a lot of our Christmas products in August and September to make sure it was in our warehouses ahead of the capacity crunch that has afflicted the market globally.”

The move to bring product in earlier has proven fruitful for B&M: “The Christmas decoration department has started strongly and is tracking ahead of where it was this time last year. Consumers are mindful that if they leave it until December 1 they may not be able to get what they want to buy.”

This was echoed by Stapleton: “Customers [are] buying early to make sure they secure the gift and supply. This is the first time in a while that families are getting together to celebrate Christmas and they probably want to make the most of that.”

Boots, B&M and Halfords are all seeing consumers preparing for the festive season earlier than ever, with sales in some Christmas categories outpacing pre-pandemic levels.