Mail Metro Media Unveils 2025's 12 Trends of Christmas
Published: 22 Jul 2025
New insights highlight major influences on this year’s festive season
22 July 2025: Mail Metro Media has revealed its 12 Trends of Christmas research during its annual festive forecasting event.
Produced in collaboration with research partner Trajectory, the research report explores how political, economic, social, technological, environmental and leisure trends will intersect with consumer behaviour at Christmas in 2025.
Unveiled during a 45min virtual event, filmed in-house with Mail Metro Media experts Jo Coltman and Luke Hand and notable industry guests, findings include an increase in positivity towards Christmas this year and a greater emphasis on planning ahead. Brits intend to spend more on festive food items (+13% net) and gifts (+14% net) this year, while some 28% will begin pre-Christmas preparations earlier than in previous years.
2025 marks the first time that millennials will take charge of Christmas celebrations, as the largest generation in the UK. Three-quarters of this generation prefer to host their guests with unique touches suggesting an increase in demand for less traditional festive food, while the shape of stockings is also set to change as a quarter (25%) of millennials prefer to gift experiences to their loved ones.
Other shifts impacting consumer Christmas planning include the use of AI, as 23% of consumers plan to use these tools to personalise recommendations for this year’s season. Social media and ecommerce shopping is also predicted to play a greater role in this year’s plans, especially among 48% of Gen-Z shoppers and 43% of millennials.
The 12 Trends of Christmas virtual event also featured insights and interviews with industry experts Charlotte Hardie, Editor-in-Chief at Retail Week; Ryan Gardiner, Head of Media and Social at Just Eat; Ben Walton, Head of Commerce at Wavemaker; Ryan den Rooijen, Managing Director of AI and Monetisation at Currys plc; and Jacqui Merrington, Director of AI at Mail Metro Media.
Luke Hand, Insights Director at Mail Metro Media, said, “While our research finds that the outlook for Christmas 2025 certainly features some challenges, there are also fantastic opportunities for brands to engage with their consumers on a meaningful level. We know that advertising has become indelibly wrapped up with festive feelings for many people nationwide, and our newsbrands provide exceptional scale and variety for brands and retailers to be present in the Christmas moments that matter.”
Tom Johnson, MD at Trajectory comments, “The festive season is absolutely critical for retailers to crack, and yet brands must keep track of so many factors which can influence how people shop, celebrate and experience the season. These 12 Trends are both practical and useful guides for retailers and brands to deeply connect with their consumers, helping everyone to make the most of this coming Christmas.”
Jo Coltman, Director of Retail at Mail Metro Media said, “Our event and research have become an important fixture in the Christmas planning calendar, to make sure that seasonal planning can be kept agile and reactive to changing consumer needs. The Golden Quarter is absolutely critical to the success of many brands and retailers alike, and we work closely with our brand partners to make sure they can engage and inspire their audiences deeply at this key time, through a range of responsive, innovative and effective options.”
The virtual event and 12 Trends of Christmas research are now available here
ENDS
About Mail Metro Media
Mail Metro Media is the advertising home of some of the UK’s most engaged newsbrands: Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, MailOnline, Metro, The i Paper, New Scientist and The Telegraph (print products). The team provides a single point of contact across print, digital, audio, video and social, allowing agencies and advertisers easy access to the millions of consumers who engage with dmg media’s brands every day.
For more information please contact: Katrina Jackson Katrina.Jackson@mailmetromedia.co.uk
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