Leading garden centre, Hayes Garden World, has released a report exploring consumer buying habits and trends at Christmas time. 

People may like to conserve their money for most of the year however when it comes to Christmas, consumers love to splash out. This is beneficial for the industry so long as you know how to make the most of your customer’s buying habits.

Although not everyone may be purchasing a new tree this year, a massive 75% of Brits say they spend up to £158 on Christmas decorations for the whole year.

When it comes to Christmas trees, the retailer - who sells both real and artificial options - discovered that artificial Christmas trees are the more popular option. 86% of Brist will have an artificial tree this year compared to 9% who plan on buying a real tree. 45% of those who plan on having an artificial tree this year are keeping their tree from last year. 41% will buy a new artificial tree this year, with 11% of those switching from a real tree. 

If one tree wasn’t enough just under 40% of those surveyed said they plan to put up two Christmas trees, indicating an opportunity for retailers to offer smaller, supplementary trees.

Cost and aesthetics were regarded as the most important factors when choosing a new Christmas tree, cost coming in at 50% and aesthetics follow closely behind at 41%. These factors are important to consider when choosing new stock and setting prices. 50% of Hayes’ Christmas trees are sold on Black Friday, highlighting just how important cost is to consumers. 

The survey, looking into shopper’s spending habits, reveals that 63% of people follow a theme when decorating their tree. You may not be surprised to find out that over 40% of those surveyed found inspiration for their decorations from social media and ¼  from newspapers and magazines. So, take advantage of your social media platforms this Christmas as it may give your customers the inspiration that they need

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Commenting on the data, Lyndan Orvis, Ecommerce Director at Hayes Garden World said: 

“Make sure to stock up on baubles and string lights this festive season as the results show that they are the shopper’s favourite decorations. Over 90% of respondents said they will be purchasing them this year.

“It is great to see that artificial Christmas trees have a stronghold in the market. As consumers are beginning to buy more than one tree there is a great opportunity to sell additional trees alongside the main Christmas tree purchase.

“As a retailer that sells both real and artificial Christmas trees, it’s interesting to see that just 9% of shoppers plan to buy a real Christmas tree this year. Artificial Christmas trees have come on a long way in the past few years and new technologies such as the Feel-Real PE technology, which uses a mixture of Polyethene and PVC, have opened up the market to artificial trees that look authentic.

“With 30% of shoppers planning on purchasing a new artificial Christmas tree this year, it’s crucial for retailers to release trees with exciting new features that are worthy of an update. New releases for 2019 include Bluetooth trees that connect to playlists and change lights in time with the music and trees with a longer stem that are perfect for cat owners.”

View the full Christmas trends buying report here.