Retailers are merchandising their Christmas ranges even earlier this year to meet consumer demand for early Christmas bargains on essentials like Christmas trees, decorations and lights according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The company’s annual Retail Christmas Tracker reveals that between 2013 and 2016 the number of people shopping for lights and Christmas decorations in mid-October doubled, while those shopping for Christmas trees increased from six percent of respondents to 18%.

Zoe Mills, Retail Analyst at GlobalData commented, ‘‘The reason for this increasingly early festive shopping is most likely due to the rising costs associated with Christmas, coupled with a squeeze on household budgets. People are trying to spread the cost of Christmas so as to avoid falling into debt over the holidays.’’