Changing habits before Christmas Eve. We are more and more willing to combine online shopping with a visit to the supermarket

This year, 70.4 percent consumers intend to buy Christmas food products only in stationary stores; 27.1 percent want to do some of their shopping online, while 1.6 percent declared to buy groceries only in e-stores – according to a report by UCE Research and the Blix Group.

The authors of the report noted that In pre-Christmas shopping, factors such as the freshness and appearance of products, as well as the ability to independently choose meat, fish, vegetables and cakes are particularly important for consumers.. Therefore, 7 out of 10 customers intend to stick only to shopping for food in stationary stores.

“For many people, it is also a ritual. Annual holiday shopping is culturally and emotionally rooted. This is a traditional moment when Poles want to be sure that they buy everything correctly,” noted Marcin Lenkiewicz from the Blix Group.

70.4 percent Poles intend to do Christmas grocery shopping only in stationary stores (a year earlier – 74.6%). 27.1 percent consumers wants to take advantage of the offer of traditional stores as well as online trading (previously – 21.4%). 1.6 percent declared that they would buy food only in e-shops (last year – 1.4%). For 0.6 respondents, this issue was not important (previously – 1.9%). 0.3 percent were unable to define their plans (0.8% a year earlier).

Dr. Krzysztof Łuczak from the BLIX Group pointed out that the percentage of people doing grocery shopping only in stationary stores decreased by 4.2 percentage points compared to last year's survey.. Customers are also migrating to e-commerce. The percentage of respondents declaring that they buy food online increased – both as a complement to stationary shopping – by 5.7 percentage points, as well as those planning to use online trade only – by 0.2 percentage point.

“In the case of groceries, beverages are mainly purchased online in multi-packs. The growing percentage of people combining stationary and online shopping is a strong signal that the Polish consumer is pragmatic and is becoming more and more convenient and willing to use new technologies,” noted Łuczak.

The report also shows that 34.1 percent customers intend to do their Christmas grocery shopping a week before Christmas (a year ago this answer was given by 33.8% of respondents). Even later, just before Christmas Eve, 24.5% of people want to go to the shops. respondents (a year earlier – 28.2%). 19.9 percent intends to shop two weeks before Christmas (20.5% last year). Already at the beginning of December, 16.5% of people went to stores to do their Christmas shopping. (11.1%). 3.5 percent respondents (a year earlier – 3.7%) did not know when they would buy products for the Christmas table, while 1.5% of surveyed people (2.7%) said that it was not important to them.

In the opinion of the report's authors, the results show customers' pragmatic approach to Christmas shopping. The highest traffic in stores occurs the week before Christmaswhen consumers can count on both the availability of products and their freshness.

Experts also drew attention to a clear increase – by 5.4 percentage points – in the percentage of respondents declaring shopping at the beginning of December, as well as a decrease by 3.7 percentage points in the percentage of respondents intending to go to stores just before Christmas.

According to the authors of the report, a significant part of consumers want to spread their expenses and take advantage of promotions, which started earlier this year than ever before. Discount stores and convenience chains run extensive promotional campaigns from the turn of November and December.

“Fatigue with crowds, greater price pressure and a wider pre-Christmas offer in discount stores mean that demand is spread over more weeks and does not accumulate only in the last days.”. For retail chains, this means a more visible extension of high turnover throughout December. The role of promotions in the first half of the month has increased and the need to manage product availability in two waves – the early promotional wave and the second pre-Christmas wave. This means a more stable and longer period of increased traffic in stores,” concluded Marcin Lenkiewicz.

The survey was conducted on November 25-27, 2025 by the Blix Group and UCE Research on a sample of 1,007 respondents responsible for everyday shopping in their households. (PAP)

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