The Goods UK: Deck the Halls with nineties nostalgia
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Fun stats of the week
- 1 billion: The number of shopping searches made per day across Google. (Fashion United)
- 57%: The amount of Waitrose customers that replace full meals with “snacky foods”. (The Times)
What’s in: this week’s trends
- Tacky Christmas takeover: This year, “nostalgia-core” has wrapped itself around Christmas décor trends. The sentimentality of felt, deep green baubles with red accents evocates the 90s in a way that takes people back to childhood (Homes and Gardens), as social media users go wild for a tacky Christmas. (House Beautiful)
- Mind the gap: Cars are getting bigger. Longer. Wider. Heavier. And while drivers absolutely love them, the government is not as pleased. The average width of new cars has risen from 182cm to 187.5cm since 2018, with SUV sales beating the sale of any other car consistently since 2020. According to experts, consumers love the size, visibility and safe feel that comes from driving a bigger car, even if our roads can’t take them! (BBC)
- All I want for Christmas is… a good ad: We’ve heard from the polls and the results are in; Christmas adverts matter to supermarket shoppers more than you’d expect. The Harris Poll concluded younger groups who have grown up alongside Christmas adverts hold them to high importance, while the older generations are slightly more critical. (The Grocer)
Cash or card: shopper behaviour
What’s in and out of our baskets right now? This week, it’s all early Christmas prep, cycling and September jollies.
- Cash in the closet: It turns out Brits are sneakier shoppers than we thought. A survey of 4,000 adults found over half secretly splurged this year – woman on beauty bits, men on booze, cigarettes and crypto. Men hid more cash overall, but women were more likely to stash money for gifts and savings. Behavioural finance expert, Greg Davies says its often about emotional comfort, not deception, while AJ Bell’s Laura Suter warns that hush-hush habits can spark money friction. (Financial Times)
- Wrapped and ready: Spotify Wrapped has landed and it’s bigger and better than ever. Wrapped has become a yearly cultural moment, giving fans and companies alike a playful, shareable way to showcase what they love. With 713 million global listeners’ habits on show, Brits are not just sharing their fave tracks, they’re streaming self-help podcasts like Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO (The Times). Brands are jumping on the band wagon as well, with Gymshark flexing its fitness stats to Ryanair poking fun at airport crushes. (PR Week)
- Yule be early: Christmas trees are going up earlier than ever, and the nation is divided. Some people start decorating as early as August, while most Brits wait until December (BBC). YouGov data shows younger people are more likely to embrace early decorating, while older generations wait until mid-December. Retailers are fuelling the shift too, Harrods launched festive stock in August, supermarkets release mince pies weeks earlier than a decade ago, and classics like Last Christmas return to the charts long before Advent. (Financial Times)
Making moves: industry changes & innovation
ICYMI, industry icons are reinvigorating their brand through unique and creative ways. Here are some movers and shakers that you should know about:
- Hey Google, will I suit this top?: Technology is levelling up online shopping with Google’s virtual try-on tool letting customers see how they’ll look in items before buying them. Now rolled out across the UK, Google has found that customers are sharing try-on images significantly more than product listings, creating increased engagement and driving a new social shopping behaviour on Google. (Social Media Today)
- Wrap it up: Lidl has revealed it’s first ‘Lidl Wrapped’ report, engaging customers by reflecting on the top items purchased by customers in ten UK cities. Data has shown that the weekly shop is about more than groceries, with customers bagging items that celebrate the little moments that bring people together. While Londoners have been loving their cucumbers this year, customers in Birmingham and Glasgow have been filling their baskets with roses and ice cubes, respectively. (Grocery Gazette)
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