Holiday grocery splurging heads to the naughty list

Shoppers are making their lists, and definitely checking them twice … to make sure they stay on budget this holiday season.

More than half of consumers (62%) said they do not have plans to splurge on groceries this holiday season, according to 84.51°’s latest Consumer Digest. Cutting back on impulse purchases, as well as buying items on sale and switching to less-expensive brands are the top ways consumers are planning on saving money for the holidays. Of the consumers who said they will splurge, they noted they will do so on additional meal courses, non-essential items and by making the switch to fresh items.

Additionally, when asked what is more important when doing holiday shopping vs. regular grocery shopping, 55% of consumers indicated price, 39% said quality, 34% quantity/size, 26% convenience and 17% said brand. Thirty-one percent of shoppers said that shopping will be the same as always during the holidays.

Almost half (42% of consumers) enjoy cooking more during the holiday season, but 34% said their grocery shopping enjoyment decreases during the holidays. At the time of the survey, 60% of consumers had not started on their holiday shopping at all, but 4% of shoppers were done with their holiday shopping. There was a mixture of both in-store and online shopping when consumers were asked how/where they will do their holiday grocery shopping. A majority of consumers (79%) said they will be using loyalty cards the same amount or more during the holiday season, compared to at other times of the year.

Consumers are getting their inspiration for holiday meals from family recipes and online meal ideas, said the report, and 72% of shoppers will serve/eat turkey as their main course for Thanksgiving, 12% plan to use ham as their main course and 6% will serve chicken. Lots of consumers will have leftovers after holiday dinners (78% of shoppers said they plan to eat leftovers immediately), and 41% said they will use them to make other types of meals.

Finally, the report also indicated consumers’ plans regarding gatherings and activities for the holiday season. Twenty-four percent of consumers are planning to get together with more people this holiday season, while 59% will gather with the same amount of people as last year.

The top activities that consumers mentioned they would participate in are: watching holiday movies (34% of consumers); gathering with family and friends (27% of consumers); and decorating their homes (21% of consumers). The top activities that consumers said they won’t be doing too much of are: spending money on entertainment (52% of consumers); going out to restaurants (47% of consumers); and traveling (46% of consumers).