New research has suggested that nearly half of shoppers with children at home claim they are already aiming to save money day-to-day so they can spend as much as they normally would this Christmas.

According to the latest shopper insights from IGD, the cost-of-living crisis means spending on seasonal events is likely to be impacted this year.

The research suggests that many family households are already saving, or are thinking about saving money to be able to afford Christmas this year, including 54% of those with children aged 0-4, 47% with children aged 5-10 and 45% with children aged 11-18.

Meanwhile, only 16% of shoppers without children have already started saving for the festive season.

Rhian Thomas, head of shopper insight at IGD, said: “Throughout the pandemic period we predicted that once Covid-19 restrictions lifted, shoppers would be keen to celebrate special occasions to make up for time they lost during lockdowns.

“However, in 2022 this may be affected again as the rising cost of living affects how much shoppers have to spend on these occasions, particularly the least affluent and shoppers with young children at home. These groups will still want to make the most of special occasions, however, so providing options that enable them to do this with stretched budgets should be a key consideration for businesses this year.”

Some 60% of shoppers agreed that a rise in costs would affect how much they spend on special occasions this year.

“Offering this group of shoppers the ability to save money for big occasions like Christmas, while continuing to buy your products, such as through a loyalty card savings scheme, could be a good way to lock in their spend, but still allow them to save for big occasions,” added Thomas.

The insights came from IGD ShopperVista 2022, which surveyed around 1,000 British shoppers.