Spending on Christmas food and drink will increase by 1.2% this year to £20bn, it has been revealed.

The study, by IGD, also stated that £1bn will be spent via online; that £1.5bn will be spent via discounters  and that only three out of 10 consumers are planning on doing a traditional ‘big Christmas shop’.

Joanne Denney-Finch, IGD chief executive, said: “Even at Christmas, shoppers are still looking for ways to help manage their finances. As we’ve seen over the rest of this year, the big weekly shop is in decline – and this is no different at Christmas.

“Most people are intending to spread their shopping across a number of grocery formats and trips, with just over half (52%) of them preferring to use a number of different stores and many of them doing so to secure the best prices. They are prepared to put the effort in to get the best products from a diverse range of stores, which is why a quarter (25%) of shoppers tell us they are going to ‘cherry pick’.”

Commenting on discounters, she added: “Seven out of 10 (67%) shoppers tell us they’re going to use them, and 6% of these people say they don’t normally shop there but will try them this festive period. Some of the interesting reasons beyond cost that shoppers tell us they’re going to use discounters at Christmas include a quarter (26%) saying they’d like to try new and different products, while nearly one in 10 (8%) say they would like to buy something that was recommended to them.

Groceries

“However, the majority of shoppers (88%) tell us they will be using supermarkets to buy their Christmas food and groceries.

“Half of shoppers (46%) are planning to buy some of their festive food and groceries online. This is being helped with more click-and-collect options available this year, including transport hubs, and more people paying for online subscription delivery passes.”

IGD also believes that plenty of consumers are to leave their Christmas food shopping late this year.