Stores expected to be busiest today with Christmas shoppers to spend €7m per hour

A busy St Patrick Street in Cork earlier this month. Picture: Denis Minihane.

Irish stores are expected to be busiest between 12pm and 1pm this afternoon as Irish shoppers are expected to spend more than €7m per hour as they rush to get last-minute Christmas gifts.

Today, December 23, is expected to be the busiest shopping day of the festive season, with many people still ticking off their Christmas to-do lists. 

People from Cork, Dublin, Tipperary and Limerick are expected to be the biggest spenders this Christmas while men continue with the time-honoured tradition of leaving their shopping until the last minute.

Of the late shoppers, many will choose to shop local this year in what will be welcome news for traders and business owners across the country, according to new consumer research by AIB.

The old adage of men leaving their Christmas shopping until the very last minute still rings true as the new data has revealed that men typically outspend women by 8% on Christmas Eve.

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

Throughout the rest of the month, women outspend men by 23%, and their busiest shopping period is between December 19 and 23.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

Consumers are spending a combined total of over €18m a day on grocery shopping in the run-up to Christmas, while almost €6m is being spent on clothes a day in the run-up to Christmas. 

Contactless payments account for 55% of all transactions over the Christmas period.

However, spending a combined average of €27 million a day during December, it is people from Cork, Dublin, Tipperary and Limerick that are expected to spend the most.

Those aged between 35 and 44 will spend almost €14 million a day in December and will spend the most over the month when compared with any other age group, the data from AIB has revealed.

On Christmas Eve, the busiest time for shopping is also expected to be between 12pm and 1pm as shoppers make a late dash for items, with groceries being the most popular, followed by hardware.

Traditions around Christmas shopping have been changing in Ireland.

Typically, December 8 was the date for Christmas shoppers to flock to the capital but this year, Friday, December 17, was the busiest shopping day in Dublin.

Speaking on the data, John Brennan, Head of SME Banking at AIB, reminded consumers that it is particularly important to support local businesses this festive season.

"It has never been more important that we support local business where possible this Christmas," he said.

Mr Brennan also noted that many businesses will welcome the fact that consumers will likely spend over €7 million an hour during the 23 December, which is expected to be the busiest shopping day for Christmas this year.

“Shopping local not only supports Irish businesses and jobs, it also ensures that the products we buy have less of a carbon footprint as they aren’t travelling hundreds of kilometres before reaching us," he added.

The data was compiled from over one million card transactions carried out by Irish consumers online during December 2020 and has been anonymised and aggregated.