British shoppers likely to spend £4.4bn less on non-essentials during Christmas period

About 38% of shoppers identified themselves as ‘distressed’ and at a high risk from the soaring cost of living. Photograph: Hollie Adams/Getty Images

British shoppers are expected to spend £4.4bn less on non-essentials – a fall of 22% – in the run-up to Christmas as a surge in the cost of living puts a squeeze on their spare cash.

Almost 60% of shoppers expect to cut back on non-food spending in the so-called “golden quarter”, or last three months of the year when most retailers book the majority of profits, according to research by Retail Economics with retail technology firm Metapack.