Consumers plan to spend more than a third (36%) of their Christmas budget at discount retailers such as Lidl and B&M, according to new data from analytics company RetailNext.

The trend is more pronounced with younger age groups. The research, which surveyed 1000 consumers across the UK, showed that discount brand spending makes up 41% of millennial’s intended Christmas outlay.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers International (PwC), retail spending for gifts and Christmas celebrations in 2024 will rise 5% year-on-year. The company has highlighted this will be the first time consumers “will outstrip festive spending since 2021.”

RetailNext head of sales Gary Whittemore said:

“While the acute pressure on household spend appears to be easing, shoppers aren’t simply snapping back to pre-cost-of-living spending habits.  Having learnt savvy and thrifty shopping hacks, consumers have redefined their concept of value.

This is bearing out in expected share of wallet for Christmas, with discounters’ retail offers, such as Aldi’s middle aisle, likely to benefit from these value-driven buying behaviours.”

RetailNext reported discount supermarket chain Aldi opened 11 new stores ahead of the festive period, while Lidl has opened six stores this month.

Figures from Kantar have shown Lidl is the UK’s fastest growing supermarket with sales up by 6.6% and footfall rising by 10% compared to last year.

The data from RetailNext highlighted that footfall is set to rise 0.5% on ‘Super Saturday’ – the last Saturday before Christmas-.

RetailNext’s research also revealed that after M&S (42%), discount retailers such as B&M (41%), Home Bargains (38%), and Aldi (32%) were the next biggest draw for consumers when deciding to visit retail parks or out-of-town shopping destinations

This changing of the guard can also be seen in the key anchor stores driving footfall to retail parks in the run up to Super Saturday, one of the busiest in-store shopping days of Christmas, when footfall is expected to jump +0.5% according to RetailNext’s footfall index.

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