CONSUMERS are changing their Christmas shopping habits, either splashing out on top-of-the-range luxury items or searching the web for last-minute bargains.
Retailers are bracing themselves for a critical few days which could make or break their Christmas profits.
Analysts expect heavy discounting as retailers attempt to thwart last week's surge in online shopping and tempt shoppers away from their c
omputers on to the high street.
Pre-Christmas price cuts have so far averaged 36% off the full selling price, higher than the 35% seen for the whole of the run-up to Christmas last year, according to a survey from Ernst & Young.
Martin Davies, of Experian, which runs the Retail FootFall Index, said: "This weekend will be critical for those retailers who have failed to keep footfall flowing through their stores this month."
However, the picture is far from clear, with some Scottish stores reporting a rise in customer numbers. Susan Nicol, general manager of the St Enoch Centre in Glasgow, said: "December got off to a slow start but only one week in we experienced strong sales and expect footfall levels to be on a par with the same period last year"
Lesley Ballantyne, managing director of John Lewis Glasgow, said: "Christmas 2007 was tipped to be a difficult year for retailers. However, John Lewis Glasgow has had a strong end to the Christmas season. Week on week, we are seeing more and more customers in store, and our festive period has ended on a high with December proving to be a very successful month indeed."
There is evidence that despite some gloomy predictions shoppers are trading up, with households expected to lavish almost £200 on Christmas groceries this year, at least £20 more than in 2006.
Waitrose said it is expecting the biggest weekend on record as till receipts are set to smash all records. Total sales for this weekend are likely to be between £45m and £50m.
Its parent company John Lewis said takings at its new food hall in Oxford Street, London, were up 50% on the previous week. Mark Price, managing director of Waitrose, said: "Once again we are seeing customers trading up as they seek out produce of the highest quality for their biggest meal of the year. Our branch teams have been bolstered by hundreds of head office partners who have been helping out on the shop floors around the country and we are relishing the prospect of our busiest weekend on record."
The main drivers are consumers' preference for authentic and artisan products. Just one week after caviar went on sale in London branches, priced at £80-£800, more than 50 tins have been sold.
There is evidence that Britain's love affair with Champagne, whose consumption has increased by nearly 400% since 1970, shows no sign of abating. Britons are expected to drink more than 36 million bottles a year making the UK the biggest global Champagne consumer.
