Cork swamped with shoppers bagging last-minute Christmas gifts
Christmas shopping on St Patrick's Street in Cork. Picture: Denis Minihane
Christmas songs floated merrily through Cork City’s busy streets as enthusiastic buskers sang for passing shoppers hauling bags of last-minute presents home.
Thursday was expected to be the busiest day for retail this Christmas with Irish shoppers expected to spend more than €7m an hour in total during its peak.
Jason O’Brien, who was out shopping with his son Fionn, said that statistic was not surprising.
He said the pandemic did not put him off coming into town to shop this Christmas, although his family has increased the amount of shopping they do online.
“I prefer shopping in-store, but sometimes online is convenient and there can be more choice," he said.
Ger and Graham Carroll were visiting Cork from Dublin with their three children Georgia, Zak, and Dylan.
“It’s great shopping here,” said Ms Carroll. "There’s a lovely atmosphere, and people are really friendly.
"After everything that’s happened over the last two years, you have a real appreciation for being able to be here.”
The family was in Cork for both business and pleasure. They run Santa grottos at shopping centres throughout the country.
“I feel very lucky to have a business here [in Cork]," said Ms Carroll.
“Cork really is a second capital. There’s so much important history here.”
She said online shopping could never replace in-person retail.
People from Cork, Dublin, Tipperary, and Limerick are expected to be the biggest spenders this Christmas, according to consumer research by AIB.
Groceries are expected to be the most-bought items on Christmas Eve, followed by hardware.
Men typically outspend women by 8% on Christmas Eve, the only day in December when men will spend more than women, the data reveals. Throughout the rest of the month, women outspend men by 23%.
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 per day in the run-up to Christmas.
Seamus Whelehan said that he started Christmas shopping in September to avail of good deals and to avoid a last-minute rush.
He came into the city to meet friends and “soak up the atmosphere". But the crowds would prevent him from staying too long, he said.
“I see the [Covid] numbers heading up again in the next few weeks,” he said. "I fear we’re going back to lockdown in January."
The pandemic did not prevent Debbie Hogan and Kyira O’Callaghan from shopping for last-minute presents, although Kyira said it did make her a little more reticent than usual.
Ms Hogan said half her shopping was done online this year, while last year it was almost exclusively online. Prior to the pandemic, she did all her Christmas shopping in-store.
“You get panicky waiting for the deliveries in case they don’t come on time," she said.
"And I got hit with a €50 tax the other day when something I bought was from the US.”
Covid did not stop Ryan Hickey from coming into the city to shop either, although the queuing was a little off-putting.
“I have to get everything today and tomorrow,” he said. "I left it too late to shop online.
"I don’t think Covid has had much impact on people’s Christmas shopping this year.”
Despite frenetic shopping activity on Ireland’s streets, the new EY [Ernst & Young] Future Consumer Index found that consumers are choosing to live with less and re-evaluate their purchases.
It found that 63% of 16,000 consumers globally say that new behaviours they had to adopt during the pandemic now feel “normal”.
People are spending less on goods they consider unnecessary, but are willing to pay more for high-quality, sustainable products.
Some 49% of respondents are taking this new approach for financial reasons, while 30% cite environmental reasons. Sustainability is also key when making purchase decisions for 85% of respondents.
It also found that although consumers plan to shop in-store more this Christmas to avoid supply frustrations, digital is now the default.
For the consumers who will shop online, almost one third (32%) say the top frustration is expensive shipping, with a quarter citing product availability as an issue.
Overall, the pandemic has helped consumers realise that they can live with less and consume “better”, with 48% saying they feel they have more clothes than they really need, while 53% are more likely to repair things instead of replacing them.
