Increased spend was a gift: Retailers feared that consumer spending would fall in Christmas 2001, but consumers defied predictions and spent more on gifts than ever before. (Factfile).

Marketing Week, February, 2002 by Sonoo Singh

The UK's retailers voiced concerns that consumers would stay away from the high street in the last quarter of 2001. Their fears were unfounded and the number of Christmas presents bought increased by more than five per cent during November and December compared with the same period the previous year.

Taylor Nelson Sofres' (TNS) Gift Trak Monitor's study on gift spending in the UK says that more than 1.5 billion gifts -- worth an estimated [pounds sterling]35bn -- were bought in the UK during the 12 months to December 2001. In fact, consumers bought more than 4 million gifts ...