News Ding dong the tills are going to chime

With 65 million Brits set to celebrate when the Royal couple say ‘I do’ in three week’s time you’d expect that party plans would be gathering momentum. However, Morrisons research* reveals that only half of Brits (51%) have actually thought about their own party plans for the ‘big day’. As a result, the supermarket is alerting the nation to a predicted last minute shopping rush time: 28th April at 5.34pm+.

The forecast is based on research by Morrisons which has dubbed the last minute dash “Operation Celebration.” The retailer’s mission began as soon as the engagement was announced, when expert teams sprang into action to predict the nation’s ‘party pocket’: identifying how, when and where we’ll be celebrating to ensure Morrisons shelves are fully stocked at just the right moment. The retailer is expecting shoppers to spend an extra 11%, or £48.84, for the big celebrations. Some 42% will be taking the bonus Bank Holiday and a joyous 20% of the nation will enjoy a full eleven days straight off work. According to Morrisons, the shelves that will see the most action are the party food aisles, as 25% claim to be focused on stocking up on food and drinks to serve a traditional wedding buffet on the big day!

Richard Hodgson, Commercial Director at Morrisons commented: “We are going to experience the nation’s biggest party shop ever in the next few weeks. In stores we are already working extra hard with 120,000 staff preparing to help shoppers celebrate. With extra Champagne, bunting and hot cross buns everyone can be confident that their own celebration is fit for a future King!

Morrisons research reveals that it is the younger shoppers who are leading the party. An impressive 83% of those aged 18 – 24 have already started thinking about party plans for Kate and Will’s nuptials, as they gear up for their generation’s first big Royal Wedding, compared to only 17% of those polled over the age of 55. Uncharacteristically, women (one in five) are more likely to be doing a rushed Bank Holiday shop, with more females planning their Royal Wedding and Bank Holiday celebrations at the last minute compared to men (just over 15%).

The party capital of the UK is set to be London with 17% of inhabitants planning one. Conversely the most miserable area is the South West with 95% saying they won’t be throwing a party.

Morrisons shoppers’ wedding wish list: 

• Products	Morrisons predicts it will sell....
  Champagne	Around 90,000 bottles of champagne, enough to fill 540,000 flutes
  Easter Eggs	Approximately 10 million eggs, plenty for 1.6 million children to go on an Easter egg hunt in Hyde Park
  Jersey Royal Potatoes	Around 15 tonnes of Jersey Royals, roughly the same as five Rolls Royces, the car that Kate Middleton will be taking to Westminster Abbey
  Strawberries	Enough strawberries to give all 233,860 members of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces strawberries and cream to enjoy six times over
  Lamb	Enough to feed all 470 staff at Windsor Castle a Sunday roast every week for just under a year
  Hot Cross Buns	11.5 million hot cross buns, enough to give every person in Wales three buns each
  Flowers	1.4 million bouquets of flowers which would cover the entire floor of Westminster Abbey 18 times over
  Bunting	30,000 packets of bunting (or 182,850 metres), the equivalent of lining Pall Mall 265 times
  King Prawns	Approximately 340,000 packets of king prawns which equals the weight of 49 Prince Williams (weighing 14st 7lbs)
  Paper Cups	Close to 1,060,000 paper cups, allowing each resident in Hertfordshire to toast the Royal couple

•  + Based on Morrisons sales trends on Bank Holiday weekends, evidence from flagship stores and post work shopping habits

  * Based on OnePoll survey of 2,000 people aged between 18 - 75