Consumers spend 7 million euros per hour on the busiest day for Christmas shopping

Among the late shoppers, many will choose to shop locally this year and in what will be welcome news for merchants and business owners across the country, consumers are expected to spend more than €7 million per hour on Thursday as they scramble for last-minute gifts.

The rush to stores is expected to be especially crowded between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. Thursday, according to new consumer research by AIB.

The old adage about men who leave Christmas shopping to the last minute still seems true as new data reveals that men typically outnumber women by 8% on Christmas Eve.

This is the only day in December when men will spend more than women.

During the rest of the month, women spend 23% more than men, and the busiest shopping period is between December 19 and 23.

Consumers spend a total of more than 18 million euros per day on groceries in the lead-up to Christmas, while nearly 6 million euros are spent on clothes per day in the run-up to Christmas.

Contactless payments represent 55% of all transactions during the Christmas period.

However, people from Cork, Dublin, Tipperary and Limerick are expected to spend an average of €27 million per day during December.

Data from AIB revealed that those aged 35-44 would spend nearly €14 million per day in December, spending more over the course of the month than any other age group.

On Christmas Eve, the busiest shopping time is also expected between 12pm and 1pm as shoppers make a late rush of goods, with groceries most popular, followed by appliances.

Traditions around Christmas shopping have changed in Ireland.

Normally, December 8th was when Christmas shoppers flock to the capital, but this year, Friday, December 17th, it was Dublin’s busiest shopping day.

Speaking about the data, John Brennan, Head of Small and Medium Business Banking at AIB, reminded consumers that it is especially important to support local businesses this holiday season.

« It has never been more important to support local businesses wherever possible this Christmas, » he said.

Brennan also noted that many businesses would welcome the fact that consumers are likely to spend more than €7 million per hour during December 23, which is expected to be the busiest day of Christmas shopping this year.

« Shopping locally not only supports Irish businesses and jobs, but also ensures that the products we buy have a lower carbon footprint because they don’t travel hundreds of kilometers before they reach us, » he added.

Data from more than 1 million card transactions carried out by Irish consumers online during December 2020 were anonymized and aggregated.