It’s the never-ending story: television channels have already started broadcasting the traditional (and clichéd) Christmas TV movies. And they are not the only ones, among the great classics of the end of the year celebrations, to have taken the lead. You have surely come across them. During a visit to the supermarket, did you not see candies and Halloween pumpkins, Christmas chocolates and Advent calendars? And shelves filled with dazzling decorations?
Two months from New Year’s Eve, this display may seem premature. 20 minutes posed the question to his readers. And one thing is certain: you did notice them.
“It ruins the charm of the holidays and the spirit of Christmas”
“Yes it’s too early… Where’s the magic of Christmas?? Might as well leave everything all year round!! “. Geneviève, who responded to our call for testimonials, is clearly one of those who think that before time, it is not yet time. “Something to definitely disgust you with Christmas,” adds Catherine. However, “it’s a rhythm that works for traders, explains Olivier Dauvers, retail expert. If they do, it’s because, every year, people buy”. “We even started receiving toy catalogs almost three weeks ago, it’s ridiculous,” says Stéphanie in turn. Olivier Dauvers confirms this arrival of catalogs in mailboxes “at the time of All Saints’ Day”, when consumption linked to the holidays is accelerating.
And precisely, what to think of the fact that the traders did not wait for All Saints Day – and Halloween – to install the decorations for the end of the year? “Everything happens at the same time,” observes Mireille. However, “we must not forget what All Saints represents”, reminds Gérald. And the children, in all this? “How can they find their way around the succession of such special moments when everything overlaps on the shelves? asks Noémie. Trade marketing expert Frank Rosenthal argues that the trade calendar should never be empty, so as to “drive trade”. And this display of Christmas products “does not arrive earlier than in previous years”, he notes. Why, then, does it feel like a premature display? It’s because of the “lag with the weather (…) You don’t feel like you’re in winter”.
“We are not given time to breathe”
The readers of 20 minutes are also numerous to deplore the incitement to overconsumption. “We are not given time to breathe, we are going to pay for three months of parties,” says Patrick. An observation shared by Nicolas, who sees a “family celebration, sharing, reconciliation” transforming into a purely commercial celebration. “Traders need these stimuli this year as consumption has been difficult”, tempers Frank Rosenthal. But Jeanne does not think that they will “sell more” for all that. An assertion that Olivier Dauvers denies. “When an Advent calendar is bought in October, it will be eaten before December and bought back. Instead of making one sale, the store will make two or even three. “The customer will develop a certain loyalty to a brand,” attests Simon, who works in mass distribution.
And if Dominique regrets the race between the stores to “put on the shelves before the competitor”, Frank Rosenthal explains that the stores “take a lot of risk to be the last”. Dominique – another – puts forward the hypothesis that “the decorations in stores are leftovers from last year that have not been put away”. In reality, there is no recycling, according to the marketing expert.
“During my childhood, I found that the Christmas period did not last long enough”
For others, like Sabie, this arrival of Christmas in stores at the end of October is incompatible with the current debates on “the disappearance of the seasons” and the “sustainability of our planet”. Similar feeling on the side of Romyra, which evokes the decline in the purchasing power of the French. “Inflation, dear traders, how could you forget? asks Romyra. But it is precisely for this reason that it is “important to give the possibility to the French to spread their expenses over time”, slice Frank Rosenthal.
And some are delighted to be able to do so: “the cost of living has increased so much that it makes it possible to renew the decor a little by staggering the expenses”, testifies Sandrine. She is not the only one to find happiness in this marketing phenomenon. This is also the case of the nostalgic Françoise: “During my childhood, I found that the Christmas period did not last long enough, our tree was only decorated on December 24 and thrown away on Epiphany Day”. For Violette, it is also a great opportunity to temporarily “evacuate the stress, the melancholy and the horror of the news”, “in this period of declining light and bad general atmosphere”. Alphonsine’s children, for their part, “are delighted! »