Cost of living crisis means 26 per cent of Northampton shoppers cannot afford to celebrate Christmas

Christmas is cancelled for 26 per cent of shoppers in Northampton because they cannot afford to celebrate due to the cost of living crisis, according to a new survey.

The findings come from a new poll of 2,000 local shoppers from Inventory Planner, which provides forecasting and planning software for businesses.

According to pre-Christmas polling, half of shoppers in Northampton are worried about being able to afford gifts for the festive period and a fifth of households plan to spend less this year than they did last year.

Inventory Planner’s spokesperson Sara Arthrell said: “Many shoppers in Northampton face a nightmare before Christmas but they are finding clever ways to save money and make sure that the Grinch doesn’t spoil all the fun.”

Inventory Planner found that households were looking at lots of ways to limit spending this Christmas.

The most popular methods were to minimise travel to save on petrol and train tickets, set a strict spending limit for Christmas and ask guests to make contributions to the cost of dinner - all chosen by a quarter of respondents.

Almost one in six people (15 per cent) said they plan to buy no presents at all to save cash, 17 per cent are ditching the Christmas tree and 16 per cent will go without a turkey.

Other popular cash savers included doing homemade gifts, switching to cheaper Secret Santa presents, not using wrapping paper or seeking cheaper alternatives such as old newspapers, buying second hand presents and not sending out Christmas cards.

Almost one in five of those polled are working extra hours to save up for Christmas and 17 per cent have taken a second job

Sara said the cuts in consumer spending will present a challenge for retailers.

Sara said: “With more than a quarter of consumers cancelling Christmas this year, many retailers are facing a nightmare in the New Year being stuck with dangerous levels of excess stock.

“Good inventory planning is vital. With a shrinking economy and weak consumer confidence, many retailers need to turn their surplus stock into cash quickly and strengthen their cash reserves as they prepare to trade through a recession.”