In a survey of 10,074 Christmas shoppers, Verdict found almost 15% of shoppers abandoned their traditional seasonal shop.
While 8.4% decided to trade up and spend more, 4.9% decided to trade-down and spend less. A further 1.3% switched retailer but did not increase or decrease spend.
Neil Saunders, consulting director of Verdict, said: "When it comes to food, many consumers put financial and meteorological concerns to one side this Christmas. They wanted treats and good quality fare for their Christmas table and were prepared to pay for it and travel for it.
"In many ways, this is a continuation of a trend we have seen since the end of the recession. Consumers are no longer prepared to be food frugal and while they’re still careful with their cash, they put quality and taste ahead of pure price."
The two premium retailers both made advances. In the survey of "main users" – those that do most of their shopping at a particular store – Waitrose had 46% more main users, while M&S grew its main user share by 318%.
Saunders said M&S and Waitrose always did well at Christmas. He said: "They deserve credit for the amount of innovation and thought they put into this year's Christmas food offer. Unusual products like the and went down a storm."
Tesco and Asda picked up the 4.9% of shoppers at the bottom end of the market who traded to cheaper alternatives.
The premium trend was stronger, and Verdict believes this will continue into 2011, and shoppers will put food spending above other forms of spend.
Saunders said: "The challenge for the mainstream grocers will be to show that they are offering great value as well as great quality. This is something Waitrose has done to great effect, but it’s not a message that’s easily emulated."
In financial results this year, online retailer , while .
Top five reasons for trading up
- Has higher quality 54.8%
- Is more of a treat 46.1%
- Has a wider range 35.3%
- More unusual products 28.2%
- Has better service 16.7%
Top five reasons for trading down
- Has cheaper prices 56.5%
- More bargains 49.7%
- Has a wider range 32.0%
- Is more convenient 31.3%
- More unusual products 18.4%
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