HUI's Christmas shopping forecast 2023

We are seeing an increase in visits to 3bits’ load test pages ahead of Black Friday and Christmas shopping where many retailers are planning for the big shopping holiday. In HUI's report for the Christmas shopping in 2023 in Sweden, a forecast is given that the reduction will be 3% compared to the previous year. However, households' consumption space has decreased more, so the expectation is that Christmas purchases will be prioritized, but that they will be planned more and purchased at a lower price.

HUI's Christmas shopping forecast 2023

The figures are expected to correspond to December shopping for 2021 and land at 87.3 billion SEK.

Tillfällen där vi samlas är prioriterade bland hushållen. I år är dock plånboksfrågan än mer aktuell än föregående år, vilket gör att inköpen till jul i större utsträckning förväntas ske till rabatterade priser. För handlarna ligger utmaningen både i att stå kvar på konsumentens inköpslista och att få lönsamhet i det som säljs, säger William Lindquist, analytiker på HUI.

The occasions where we get together are prioritized among households. This year, however, the wallet issue is even more relevant than last year, which means that purchases for Christmas are expected to be made at discounted prices to a greater extent. For the traders, the challenge lies both in remaining on the consumer's shopping list and in obtaining profitability in what is sold, says William Lindquist, analyst at HUI.

In an attempt to bring Christmas gift shopping earlier, several retailers have also introduced Pre Black Week – some with access only to members of customer clubs. In 2022, almost as much was spent in November as in December in the consumer durables trade. Purchases that were previously carried out in December are expected to some extent to be moved to November's big sale periods and many consumers are likely to take the opportunity to find Christmas presents already during Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday in its various forms.

We also see continued great interest in the article we published about the new rules for price information that came into effect in 2022, where, among other things, the previous lowest price must be clearly displayed in the event of a price reduction. It is then the lowest price during the 30 days before the price reduction that must be stated. The rule applies to all distribution channels – both physical store and online and it applies to both goods and services.

Read the entire Christmas shopping report and we take the opportunity to wish you a really good shopping holiday in anticipation of Christmas.