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As the British government delayed Strictly Come Dancing to reverse spin into a second lockdown last weekend, there was one question that people demanded an answer to more than any other: what about Christmas?
The UK economy might be turning into a turkey, but who we might (or might not) be able to share a butter-basted crown with on December 25 seems to be a greater issue of national importance. Boris Johnson is adamant the current restrictions in England will be eased by the beginning of December. Does anyone believe him? He’d have more luck convincing people Santa Claus is real.
People have been longing for a “normal” Christmas, but that’s just not going to happen. Like a giant antibacterial wipe, Covid-19 threatens to sweep away the traditional whirl of parties, work dos, school nativity plays, Christmas-shopping crowds and extended family get-togethers.
Having resigned ourselves to a “different” Christmas, maybe it’s time for a festive reset. Even before lockdown was announced, many friends told me they were planning to celebrate separately this year. One secretly admitted that after a stressful year, she was looking forward to a quiet, low-key Christmas at home with her children, without having to drive halfway around the country to see her in-laws, her divorced parents and their new partners.
Yes, it’s a wrench not to see our relatives. And I suspect many will opt to test their eyesight by driving to celebrate with their nearest and dearest. Still, the last thing I want to give my parents this year is coronavirus. Meeting up with our adult children for a walk complete with hip flasks and a few surreptitious turkey sandwiches is probably the best my husband and I can hope for.
We may as well rename Amazon Prime “Santa” now that non-essential shops in England have been forced to close for a month or more. The last lockdown cost them an estimated £1.6bn a week in lost sales — but this is the season where many do the bulk of their trading. The large internet retailers are going to be delivering Christmas pretty much single-handedly this year, puffing the hype around “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” to previously unknown levels.
Experts predict a delivery crunch as people start panic-buying gifts. Some even think families could spend more money than last year to compensate for not being able to deliver a gift in person. Such “gift inflation” is a dangerous thought, with the nation divided between those whose finances have emerged relatively unscathed from the pandemic and those who have lost their jobs, most of their incomes or even their businesses.
Richard Hyman, the independent retail analyst, thinks smaller celebrations mean spending will be much more subdued. “Retailers bought Christmas stock in the summer months when things were opening up, assuming that the gradual recovery would continue,” he says. The sudden lockdown means “even the strong retail businesses are worried that they’ve got too much stock”. For the smaller independent retailers, this could prove ruinous. What can we do to help them?
Let’s start with gift-buying. I am going to try and stick to the maxim of “ABA”: Anything But Amazon. I’m not knocking its management team, who performed spectacularly during the pandemic, but it does not need my money. Many local “non-essential” retailers really do, and I want their shops and websites to still be trading next Christmas. Shops are allowed to operate click-and-collect and delivery services; many will post orders, having completed a digital reboot under the first lockdown. The UK launch of Bookshop.org this week — a platform that brings together 130 indies — filled me with festive cheer.
Although Hyman expects clothing sales to be the hardest hit (I mean, would you buy a new party dress just for Zooming in?), toys and tech are expected to outperform. Children — especially the fear of bored children — are the reason why. With the lurch away from cash, a tenner stuffed inside a card doesn’t quite cut it these days.
And then there is food. All the supermarkets have Christmas brochures displaying feasts of a size likely to be outlawed, but are now hurriedly stocking smaller turkeys. With so many other traditions going by the wayside, why not have a venison Wellington instead? Or, as one friend is doing, moules and frites? (It’s her favourite — and nobody else will be there to object.)
There are plenty of specialist food and drink retailers on the high street and online that would appreciate a slice of your spend. If you’re sending your own food parcels and want to avoid queues in the Post Office, download the Royal Mail app, which shows locations of new “Parcel Postboxes” and sells online postage.
Even though we’re more likely to share Christmas food with friends via Instagram this year, I suspect the allure of baking under lockdown is going to turbocharge “Stir-up Sunday”. Mum insists she will still make her Christmas cake, a spectacular brandy-infused creation topped with gem-like crystallised fruits. I have already sourced these for her, even though I worry I may not be able to visit and enjoy a slice. “Don’t worry, darling,” she said. “It keeps for ages. We’ve only just finished eating last year’s.”
Claer Barrett is the FT’s consumer editor claer.barrett@ft.com; @ClaerB
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