That's a lot of Christmas cheer to spread... It’s set to be a Merry Christmas for Irish retailers’ according to a new report by ecommerce partner Webloyalty. The report into Christmas spending estimates that Irish consumers will spend €1.55bn on Christmas this year, up 3.5% from last year. Of that figure, €839.9 million will be spent on Christmas gifts with almost two thirds of Irish consumers planning to spend up to €300 on presents. According to the report, the average Irish Christmas budget is €578 while 13.5% have budgeted €1,000 or more. Just under two thirds (63.2%) of those questioned say their Christmas spend will be similar to last year and 8.8% say they plan to spend more this festive season than last year. However, while overall spending on Christmas is up, a quarter (24.7%) intend to spend less than they did last year. The average Irish consumer spends around 12 hours on Christmas related shopping activities while 7.1% spend more than 48 hours shopping for the festive season. A mixture of online and in-store is the most popular way to shop for 68% while 12.9% plan to only shop online. Despite 1 in 4 planning to cut back on spending, interestingly Christmas sales are not a high priority for Irish shoppers. Almost half (40.3%) say they will not shop in the seasonal sales. For those who do intend to go sale shopping, after New Year’s Day is the most popular time with 1 in 5 indicating they will go sales shopping from 2^nd January onwards.