The Insight 2017 Christmas Price Basket is here

Christmas is not too far away and to complement the existing price baskets we produce regularly, we've created a Christmas 2017 Basket, comparing 10 of the core Christmas lines across 10 retailers to find who really has the lowest prices.

With a mix of discounters, DIY sheds & department stores plus a garden centre, we've covered the majority of places consumers will go to shop for new Christmas lines over the next four to six weeks.

The basket compares prices across the most popular, traditional items that most homes will have, however, there is a small caveat, as not all retailers stock exactly the same products and where they are different, we've highlighted it on the audit. It's also fair to say that product qualities will differ across the retailers, so in each case we've opted for the price entry product to provide as level a playing field as possible.

We've taken the approach that a typical consumer walking into these stores, would be buying a specific list of items. For example, the majority of places sell our choice of LED Christmas Lights in packs of 200 but some do not, so therefore we have gone with the closest matching quantities and any changes to the qty is clearly shown in the basket. 

The ten retailers featured are B&M Bargains, B&Q, Bunnings Warehouse, Debenhams, Homebase, John Lewis, Next, The Range, Wilko and Wyevale Garden Centre.

The Product range includes an artificial Christmas tree, icicle lights, string lights, small baubels, Christmas wreath, tinsel, window LED (Choice of three), window Merry Christmas sign, candle bridge and family pack of 12 crackers.

So which retailer has the lowest priced basket at £63.94? Who is the most expensive at (gulp) £232, over three times higher than the lowest basket! Where would you pay £1 for a 2 metre length of tinsel and where would you pay £4.50 for exactly the same item?

Why would you pay £90 for an artificial tree, when you could pay £12?

For all the answers, download the Insight Christmas Basket here.

Source: Steve Collinge - MD Insight Retail Group Ltd.

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