Lessons from 2025’s Christmas shopper behaviour: what worked well?

In this article, we look at five areas that performed well across retail and away from home.

1. Retail won food occasions from restaurants

2. Large format stores remained central to buying behaviours

3. Premium private label ranges attracted shoppers’ attention

4. Maximising loyalty, spotlighting price cuts and promotions

5. Creating opportunities to celebrate after Christmas

1. Retail won food occasions from restaurants

While volume sales were broadly flat in 2025, retail benefited from shoppers’ desire to save by avoiding restaurants for their meals. Consumers’ desire to trade down saw food-led pubs achieve real-term growth through longer visits and higher spend, underlining how younger and affluent consumers prioritised fewer, but more meaningful visits.

As out of home Christmas celebrations were more considered in 2025, consumers looked to make the most of the occasion. Over half visited different places than usual, and two thirds planned their celebrations. This highlights the importance of early Christmas promotion, and operators should now turn to advertising and early booking incentives to capture consumer demand.

2. Large format stores remained central to buying behaviours 

As ever, many shoppers preferred large format stores, even if they undertook several small shopping trips as they prepared for Christmas. This saw many of the year’s existing trends play out once more over the period, with retailers continuing to play distinct, mission-based roles for shoppers: discounters were the go‑to choice for essentials, Tesco and Sainsbury’s were preferred for fresh produce, and M&S stood out as the destination for luxury or unique festive items. Store investment helped retailers, with new and renewal stores from M&S and Sainsbury’s outperforming legacy estates.  

An interesting development for 2026 will be seeing the role quick commerce plays for shoppers. Online performed well, aided by quick commerce operations, while convenience stores were impacted by their limited ranges, with reduced footfall mitigated by last-minute top-up shops. The combination of a stronger quick commerce offer and convenience stores' structural issues could see fast-paced delivery options gain further. 

3. Premium private label ranges attracted shoppers’ attention

Many shoppers chose to elevate their celebrations by trading up to premium private label products, especially in classic treat categories like mince pies, desserts and biscuits. This was borne out by retailers’ results, which showed that premium private label products generated sales worth more than £1 billion for the first time. Retailers expanded their premium private label ranges, adding products and launching new top-tier lines ahead of Christmas 2025, and with existing knowledge of them and additional marketing support since, the ranges are likely to perform well in 2026.

4. Maximising loyalty, spotlighting price cuts and promotions

Hardly surprising, given the economic backdrop and shoppers’ aim to control their spending, retailers and away from home operators succeeded by targeting their most loyal customers and promoting early and visibly. From a retail perspective, in 2025, half of shoppers relied on loyalty points to help cover the cost of their Christmas food shop.  

This benefited those retailers with loyalty cards, and helped promotions account for 33.3% of spending. Mirroring recent years, the week preceding Christmas Day saw retailers compete to offer shoppers the cheapest family Christmas meal using loss-leading prices on seasonal vegetables to drive footfall and attract last-minute spending. The vegetable ranges were usually merchandised first in flow, which could have influenced shoppers’ willingness to trade up later in their shop by offering savings early on. 

For away from home operators, Christmas marketing campaigns shifted toward protecting revenue and winning new spend by locking bookings in early, driving repeat visits, and building spend throughout December and into January. Certainly, as consumers shift their interest and spending towards experiences, operators who were able to create memorable and affordable experiences, like themed events, benefited by attracting cautious spenders or winning group bookings.

5. Creating opportunities to celebrate after Christmas

Focusing on loyal consumers and getting them to book in early also benefited away from home operators by linking booking incentives to spending after Christmas and into January. From restaurants offering complimentary drinks if they booked before a certain date to outlets giving money back in January if spending targets were reached in December helped extend the celebrations and lock in spending that may not have been made.

For retail, while most shoppers relied on leftovers when they socialised with family and friends between Christmas and New Year, there were opportunities to drive additional purchases just after Christmas. 1 in 10 went shopping for food and groceries immediately after Christmas, particularly younger shoppers, and 22% shopped for non-food items between Christmas and New Year, underlining the size of the opportunity. 

Retailers could position complementary items, such as drinks and easy meal solutions, through cross‑category displays. Linking these products to smaller occasions that happen between Christmas and New Year can spark inspiration and drive additional spend.

What does this mean for Christmas 2026 and your reviews?

Christmas 2026 is likely to be a story about the tension between early commitment and late purchasing. Loyalty schemes, advance bookings and targeted promotions will help retailers secure a greater share of shoppers’ planned festive spend earlier in the season, particularly across big-ticket meals, events and gifting. 

However, continued pressure on household budgets means many shoppers are likely to delay the discretionary purchases that expand the basket until much closer to Christmas, when budgets, guest numbers and remaining disposable income are clearer. This creates a longer period of demand capture, but a shorter and more competitive window in which to unlock incremental festive spend.

We can help you understand when and how to engage shoppers throughout that journey, securing planned spend early and turning those later festive missions into genuine category growth for your next key selling moment. 

Get in touch with our consulting team to explore what this means for your Christmas plans and beyond.

Speak to our experts