According to a new study

Christmas shopping in October? Customers aren’t having it

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15.10.2026 16:00
Porträt von Krone Oberösterreich
Von Krone Oberösterreich

In many places, cookies, Christmas decorations, and other holiday items have been available for purchase since September. But only a very small number of customers want the Christmas shopping season to start so early. JKU researcher Christoph Teller explains why retailers are offering these items as early as fall.

It feels like it starts earlier every year: Christmas tree ornaments, cookies, and other items have been adorning store shelves since September. This isn’t going over well with customers: 79 percent of Austrians would prefer that Christmas treats and decorations not be offered until November at the earliest, according to a study by the Johannes Kepler University (JKU) in Linz. Only two to three percent want to start Christmas shopping as early as September. It’s also striking that older consumers generally want to see Christmas items on the shelves later than younger consumers do.

A Dilemma for Retailers
This presents a dilemma for retailers, says Christoph Teller of the JKU’s Retail Institute. After all, the desire for a later sales start doesn’t mean that Christmas items offered earlier won’t be bought. An earlier release could create additional opportunities for purchases—even if consumers actually prefer a later sales start.

“Those who start too late...”
“Those who start too early tie up valuable retail space and may thereby displace other, more profitable product lines. At the same time, there’s a risk that the special nature of Christmas gets lost in the everyday routine. “Those who start too late leave early shopping opportunities to the competition,” says Teller. For the retail researcher, the key is for stores to find the right product assortment intensity at the right time.

This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.

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