Will Artificial Trees Become A Thing Of Christmas Past?

New data analysis from last-mile delivery courier service and Christmas tree delivery provider Gophr, has revealed that artificial Christmas trees may be on course to becoming a thing of ‘Christmas Past’.

While figures for 2023 showed that 62% of the 23,856,000* UK households who put up trees at Christmas said they were planning to buy an artificial tree, online search data for Christmas 2024 suggests a “greener outlook”.

Gophr’s number-crunching experts found that the online search term “Christmas tree farms” (22,000 searches) topped the leaderboard for consumers researching where to buy their festive tree.  Additionally, Google Trends data revealed a widening gulf between the terms “real Christmas tree” and “artificial Christmas tree”, with searches for the former vastly outnumbering the latter.

However, Gophr’s analysis shows that while search terms for artificial trees might be lagging, and more consumers appear to be looking to Xmas tree farms for their tree purchase, there is still plenty of demand for fake trees and the following retailers were most frequently searched for by consumers.

Argos, which sells only artificial and prelit trees, records the same number of searches as “Christmas tree farms”. B&Q, which sells a mixture of potted / cut Nordmann Fir fresh cut Christmas trees as well as artificial trees, rounded off the “Top 5” with 14,800 searches. 

1. Christmas tree farms (22,000 searches) 

2. Argos Christmas tree (22,000) 

3. Christmas tree Tesco (18,100) 

4. Christmas tree Asda (18,100) 

5. Christmas tree B&Q (14,800) 

Gophr’s data collection identified that approximately 6 to 8 million Christmas trees are grown in the UK each year on the country’s 1,500 Christmas tree farms -  averaging 4,000 to 5,333 trees grown per farm. The last-mile delivery provider’s data experts also uncovered that on average 2.4m Christmas trees are imported every year** - meaning that 8% of UK households that celebrate Christmas have a foreign fir in their living rooms, not taking into account larger trees, often seen in retail settings and town centres.

Graham Smith, Strategic Account Director at Gophr, commented: “Nothing marks the start of the festive period like putting up the Christmas tree. But are you a real Christmas tree purist or a fake fir champion? 

“In recent years, people seem to have been going for ease, opting for a boxed-up artificial tree, worrying about the challenge of getting the real thing home. But that might be changing….

“Our data gathering suggests that the UK public may be gradually falling out of love with the artificial Christmas tree with searches for “Christmas tree farms” ranking as the top term as consumers research where to buy their tree as we enter the festive season. The rise in popularity of Christmas tree farms could be seen as akin to the Halloween “pumpkin picking” boom that we have seen in recent years, with consumers using it as an opportunity for a family day out as well as picking their own tree.

“Then you have the fun of getting it home! Christmas tree farms, garden centres and other retailers need to make sure that delivery options are available for festive customers - as not everyone will have the space in their car, or indeed spare bungee to secure the tree to the roof. It could be the difference in them picking a 7ft giant or a 2ft tiddler.”

*85% of UK households have a Christmas tree - 29 million households in the UK

**Of 8 million trees sold, 20-40% are imported

Source : Gophr 

Image : Pexels / Gustavo Fring / 6285045

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