25 Nov Communities, Crowns and Corporate Kindness: Get into the Spirit!
2020 is shaping up to be an extraordinary Christmas….
Christmas is coming (extra) early this year. With a lamentable lack of things to do during lockdown, the British public is already dusting down the baubles and stocking up on festive supplies.
Ocado ran out of Christmas shopping slots weeks ago and a quarter of us are planning to have the tree and decorations in position by December 1, according to Tesco. One report suggests that online searches for ‘turkey’ started as early as September, up 57% on the same month last year.
Which means that it is not too early for us to start talking about it either. Leave it any longer and we might miss this year’s festive boat.
Let’s be honest, Christmas 2020 was never going to be like Christmas past – or hopefully Christmas future. Some of the traditions we love (or loathe) look to be off the list: Crowded shopping trips, cheesy Christmas parties, huge family get-togethers, to name just three. But in their place move some new customs that will give this year it’s own festive flavour.
We’ve worked out which products, traditions and events are likely to feature BIG in this topsy-turvy festive world. Get into the spirit of things with this little list:
Festive jumpers: Woolly pullies will be even bigger news this year – because if you have to pull a cracker via Zoom, you want to look the part.
Turkey crowns: Smaller gatherings means the five kilo turkey is literally last year’s bird. Turkey crowns are instead set to become the king of the table, with Tesco increasing stocks of the festive joints by a fifth.
Community spirit: Through a tricky time, kindness has shone out this year and this Christmas more than half plan to make a charitable gesture. Millennials lead the way with 64% planning to carry out good deeds, according to Tesco’s Christmas report.
Hampers: Searches for filled baskets are on Waitrose.com are up by an astonishing 818% as online shoppers look to send their Christmas wishes with gifts of food. Get your order in before it’s too late.
Corporate kindness: Charity In Kind Direct takes donations from (some of our favourite) brands and distributes them through local organisations to give people the essential gifts of dignity, cleanliness and confidence. We applaud brands such as L’Oréal , which has donated thousands of skincare products, Always and Tampax, givers of two million tampons and sanitary towels, and Cif, which has donated 250,000 anti-bacterial eco-refills. Raise your mug to PG Tips, which has donated five million cups of tea this year.
Cocktail shakers: The shaker’s hour has come. Instead of drinking cheap Prosecco at a sweaty party, this is the year you get to shake it up in the comfort of your own home, sharing the experience of your nearest and dearest –albeit mostly via video.
Ding dongs: Expect the doorbell to be put through its pacers this year with deliveries of food and gifts set to skyrocket. With shopping events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday on the calendar before lockdown is scheduled to end in England, ParcelHero expects home shopping to grow by 55% in November compared with last year.
Loving the vida local: While online stores are set to be big winners this year, we also love the steps being made to support local and independent stores. If and when lockdown is lifted, we can get back onto our local high streets. Until then, online initiatives such as uk.bookshop.org helps shoppers support local sellers and shops.
Photo by Jill Wellington from Pexels