HOW IRISH CONSUMERS SHOP DURING THE FESTIVE SEASON<\/p>\n
Christmas grocery shopping isn\u2019t one big moment, it\u2019s a series of decisions across the festive season. Each with its own mood, its own plan, and its own purchases, and if you\u2019ve ever found yourself panic-buying cranberry sauce on the 24th, you\u2019ll know exactly what I mean. In fact, Irish consumers made 23 trips in December last year<\/a>. That\u2019s six more in store grocery trips than the UK average of 17.<\/p>\n It starts with planning. Quiet, considered. People thinking about who they\u2019re hosting over the Christmas holidays, what food they\u2019ll cook, and how much they\u2019ll spend.<\/p>\n Then comes stocking. The pantry fillers, the drinks, the staples. It\u2019s when your mum buys the tin of Christmas roses and hides them above the kitchen counter for all to see, while simultaneously warning nobody to touch until the big day. It\u2019s the first wave of festive season spending, and it\u2019s where we start to see a shift in consumers behaviour. 31% of shoppers say they treat their families at Christmas by buying more confectionery and other premium products they wouldn\u2019t usually go for.<\/p>\n But the main shop is where things really shift. It\u2019s mid-to-late December. Loading up on fresh food, meats, mince pies. The fridge is full, and the trolley is heavier than it\u2019s been all year, and not just figuratively, 29% of shoppers estimate their Christmas grocery budget to be over \u20ac300. This is when 81% of customers are making their grocery list \u2013 not weeks in advance, but in the final days before the shop. In fact, 39% make it 2-3 days before, while 42% of customers make it the same day.<\/p>\n \u00a0And let\u2019s not forget hosting. We\u2019ve all been there, the phase none of us planned for, but everyone shops in. Forgotten cranberry sauce, more Brennan\u2019s for the sambos. The \u201cwe need more of that\u201d moment. It\u2019s reactive and of high value for retailers.<\/p>\n OUTDOOR ADVERTISING DRIVES IN-STORE GROCERY PURCHASES<\/p>\n Last year, December 23rd was Ireland\u2019s biggest grocery shopping day, with \u20ac107 million spent in sales across 24 hours. This year, 71% of Irish shoppers plan on doing their Christmas grocery shop in store rather than online shopping. That\u2019s why outdoor advertising matters. It reaches shoppers on the move, influencing decisions before they enter in store. Outdoor advertising formats in roadside environments, near supermarkets, and in high-footfall areas keep brands visible during the festive season, driving impulse buys and reinforcing planned purchases.<\/p>\n The Christmas shop has become an institution. It\u2019s the late-night dash, the trolley traffic jam, the moment when excitement kicks in and the \u201cjust in case\u201d items start piling up. When brands go quiet, they lose visibility at the most critical moment. If your out of home isn\u2019t live, you\u2019re invisible.<\/p>\n WHY OOH ADVERTISING MATTERS DURING THE FESTIVE PERIOD Irish consumers don\u2019t stop shopping after December 15th, they\u2019re still making decisions, still being influenced, and still spending big \u2013 17% agree that out of home advertising impacts their grocery choices. For media planners, that\u2019s the opportunity. From the late shop to the hosting dash, these moments are emotional, high value, and driven by impulse as much as planning. Out of Home advertising connects with shoppers when it counts. Creating an emotional connection in the real world and influencing choices before they hit the aisles. For brands, going quiet means going invisible, and in the final weeks of the year, that\u2019s the costliest mistake you can make.<\/p>\n Written by Ciara Gibney, Marketing Manager at Talon Ireland. This research is based on an online methodology of 500 respondents 16+, gone to field between the 6-8th of October. For the full suite of out of home advertising results reach out to [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019ve been in Out of Home advertising long enough to know that the festive season starts earlier every…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[72,113,61,60],"class_list":["post-134246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Horizontal](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Grocery-List-1.png\")
Q: You mentioned you write a list prior to your grocery shop. When do you write your shopping list?<\/p>\n![\"Bar](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Medium-of-Influence.png\")
Q: What advertising, if any, influences you the most when it comes to grocery shopping?<\/p>\n