December 1st begins the countdown to Christmas Eve, but the most popular calendars have been out of stock for months. This year, the first ones were already released at the beginning of September, a month earlier than just a couple of years ago. At the same time, demand seems to be record high this year.
According to the price comparison site Prisjakt, interest has tripled since 2020 and the retailer Lyko, which sells many beauty calendars, testifies to the same trend.
– We see, among other things, that more people are monitoring the advent calendars this year. In recent years, the website has crashed on the days when we released it because there has been so much traffic to buy the calendars. We have had to introduce a queuing system just like at rock concerts, which sluice customers through to buy their calendar, says Tom Thörnblom, communications manager at Lyko.
Do you see any risk that Lyko contributes to a pressure on young people to have the trendiest, most expensive calendar?
– I wouldn’t say that, we target those who are 20-40 years old, then of course there are spillover effects.
Strong price increase
Today, you have to pay an average of just over SEK 800 according to Prisjakt, an increase of an average of 43 percent compared to last year – based on the weighted average price.
But many of the most popular calendars cost significantly more than that, especially calendars with beauty products.
– There have always been expensive calendars, but we have gone from the average price of a beauty calendar perhaps being SEK 1,000 to SEK 3,000 in just a few years. It’s absurd, says influencer and make-up artist Margareta Grääs.
Promoted by influencers
Consumers are often lured with sales arguments such as that the value of the products inside amounts to much more than what you have to pay for the calendar itself.
They are also promoted through social media influencers. 17-year-old Cornelia Borger received her first beauty calendar at 14.
– On social media there is a lot of “look this new calendar is the best ever, you really have to have it”, says Cornelia Borger, 17 years old.
– I have felt pressure to have an expensive Christmas calendar and then there is a bit of a competition about who has the best one, says Maja Salmi, 15 years old.
Hear Margareta Grääs in the video, about why she has opened over 500 calendars.