As consumers try to balance luxury with tightening budgets and a desire for sustainable purchasing, Christmas is getting complicated. Lizzy O’Riordan considers the biggest priorities for this year’s festive season

Experiences

Experience-based gifts continue to thrive. Often environmentally friendly, personalised and ideal for the new generation of knowledge-craving consumers, retailers should tap into the experience trend.

For some retailers, such as Phil Innes, founder and director at Loki Wine, the best way to take advantage of this trend is to advertise workshops as presents. “We do a lot of events for Christmas gifts and can start getting these sales as soon as people get back from the summer,” he says.

Jessica Summer, founder of Mouse & Grape, likewise offers gift vouchers to use on in-store experiences. “People are increasingly looking to give experiences rather than just things. Experiences create memories,” she says, “and with something like a cheese and wine tasting, it’s a shared moment. Something fun, interactive and delicious that you can enjoy together.”

Physical events, however, aren’t the only way to capitalise on the desire for experience. Fells operations controller Robert Harris and development director Ed Thornton say that interactivity can also be incorporated into a traditional gift.

Through Fells’ gifting department, “we might make something like a whisky tasting set or a Port tasting set, which includes the full history and the story. What you’re selling to the consumer is the trial experience and the educational elements,” Thornton tells Drinks Retailing.

As James Caley, head of buying at Beer 52, says, subscriptions can also be thoughtful ways for retailers to approach the gifting season. For the online retailer: “The beer, wine and whisky club gift subscriptions are a major focus of our gifting campaign,” he says, adding: “We see a strong appetite for experience gifts. Recipients get something to look forward to each month and we’ve seen gifting subscriptions grow year on year.”

Low & no

It would be foolish for retailers not to consider low & no alcohol offerings for the festive season, especially at a time when one in five UK adults don’t drink alcohol (Alcohol Change UK) and the trend of moderation is growing.

According to Louise Avery, founder of LA Brewery, the best thing retailers can do is to treat low & no gifts the same as full-abv options. Of Christmas gifting displays, Avery says: “While many retailers stock low & no options, many are yet to include these within marketing and displays in the same way they do their alcoholic counterparts.

“As we approach Christmas, retailers must integrate non-alc options with their alcoholic counterparts, including them in displays or in catalogues and gift guides. Non-alcoholic options should also be showcased alongside alcoholic options within marketing and content.”

Sparkling tea, such as that sold at LA Brewery, is a strong option for gifting. Showcased at Fortnum & Mason as part of its Sparkling Tea & Truffle Gift Box – it’s a way to sell an elevated experience with 0% abv.

Dealcoholised is also an option. While, as Egle Renault, communications manager at GM Drinks, says, some consumers are still “hesitant to try these wines due to past experiences with poor-tasting options”, ever-improving technology is enhancing its reputation. Safe options to begin with include mulled non-alc wine and sparkling bottles.

Whatever you choose, it’s not a trend to be ignored. Dan Harwood, MD at Eisberg, comments: “The data is clear, there’s a growing place for alcohol-free at all occasions and the opportunity for retailers at Christmas is huge.

“Mindful drinkers want to be a part of the festive celebrations without feeling like they’re missing out. The demand is there, but it’s down to retailers to take advantage by ensuring the right products are reaching this audience.”

RTDS

Gifting taster-sized bottles isn’t a new concept for Christmas. However, the influx of RTDs in this space is growing. Much like the classic tasting sets, RTDs allow the gift receiver to trial products from a brand without the commitment of a large bottle. They also have the added benefit of being ready to go.

Taking part in the burgeoning tequila and mezcal trend, The Lost Explorer brand has turned to RTDs this year with its Agave Gift Set, created in collaboration with Lockdown Liquor & Co and comprising three agave-based ready-to-drink cocktails. Brand ambassador at The Lost Explorer Alan Uresti Silva says RTDs can be a powerful way to introduce people to a new category.

They are also more accessible than gifting miniatures of a spirit, especially if that spirit isn’t fully understood yet. Uresti Silva says: “At Lost Explorer we wanted to create something that felt instantly enjoyable and easy to experience. With ready-to-drink cocktails, there’s no need for extra ingredients or equipment; the recipient can simply shake or pour it over ice and enjoy.”

Rob Wallis, co-founder of Moth, also heralds convenience as a key reason for RTDs’ popularity in gift sets or advent calendars. You are not giving the consumer a project with an RTD but instead something that’s ready to drink. “We focus on creating gifting options that feel thoughtful, premium and genuinely useful. Rather than launching novelty products, we design gifts that will elevate consumers’ cocktail experience.”

While most popular in the spirits space, RTDs in the wine sector are also finding success in gifting. Jack Green, co-founder of Vinca, speaks to this, pointing to the success of the brand’s Christmas cracker containing three canned wines, which he said sold out before Christmas last year.

“There are a few reasons why RTD cans are suitable for Christmas gifting,” Green says. “The first is convenience and accessibility. They’re also great for sharing.”

Sustainability

If there is one point everyone seems to agree on this year, it’s that sustainability matters. Without a doubt, Christmas is a time of enormous waste, whether in the form of non-recyclable packaging or gifts that don’t serve their purpose and end up being thrown away. But consumers are growing fatigued.

“I think sustainability is a consumer concern all year round and this extends to Christmas,” Green says. For this reason, “every part of our wine-tasting cracker is recyclable, even the cans, which gives customers a way of gifting without using any plastic”.

Across the board, producers agree. “Sustainability plays a big part in our Christmas offering as it’s becoming an increasingly important factor for consumers when choosing wine, especially during the festive season,” says Renault. Meanwhile, “as a B Corp certified company, sustainability is of key importance to everything we do”, adds Wallis.

Being sustainable also means brands have to consider the logistics of gifting, says Thornton from Fells. “We’re always trying to offset carbon, and that’s not just in deep-sea freight but also in internal freight within the UK.

“We’re doing an awful lot of nesting products in transit,” he adds. “So, if you imagine a wooden box, that’s very space-hungry to move around. We’re nesting, which allows us to save space and cut down the carbon footprint.

“It makes it a bit more complicated from a planning point of view, but it means our retailers get a better price,” as well as being more neutral on the environment, he says.

Advent calendars

There’s no real way to talk about Christmas gifting without addressing the elephant in the room: advent calendars. A staple in the eyes of some and a tired concept to others, advent calendars are inevitably going to be part of the season. That said, not all are made equal.

In the last edition of Drinks Retailing, regular contributor Tom Khan-Lavin of YesMore agency called for the end of the overpriced gimmick advent calendar – and the consensus is that people agree. Each year, there’s a glut of more expensive and less practical advent calendars created to feed our attention economy. But it’s best to focus on versions that consumers will actually use, not just talk about.

According to Wallis, the Moth brand continues to see success with its calendars, selling out within weeks of launch last year. “Advent calendars have become a big part of how people celebrate the festive season. They offer daily excitement in December,” he says, noting that cocktails are a practical option for a drinks advent calendar because they’re both fun and easy.

Others, like Caley from Beer52, see advent calendars as a way to introduce customers to new products and create unique beers through one-off or exclusive brews that aren’t available elsewhere. Putting an emphasis on giving the consumer added value, Caley says: “We are seeing very strong repeat purchases from previous years’ customers, so it’s a proposition that people are continuing to enjoy.”

On the success, he adds: “Last year’s calendars sold out within days of going on sale.”

Whichever way, the key message is this: offer an advent calendar that brings something exciting and accessible to the consumer. Otherwise, the likelihood is that they’ll be opened, but never consumed.