Food and drinks sales in November struggled to compete with the same period in 2020 when sales soared as we entered the second national lockdown. However, activity did pick up in the second half of the month as shoppers started to ramp up spending in preparation for Christmas and the festive period.

With 61% of shoppers looking forward to getting back to traditional Christmas celebrations, IGD’s Shopper Confidence Index improved slightly in November. And while over two-thirds (67%) of shoppers think Christmas is a time to splash out on food, more are setting a budget on their Christmas food shopping (31%, compared to 26% in ’20) as we see the rising cost of living starting to take hold. Our ShopperVista research also reveals that 29% of shoppers now expect food to get much more expensive in the year ahead, the highest level recorded, with increasing numbers claiming to already be experiencing rising food and energy bills.

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