Tradition fails to ring any bells when it comes to what younger consumers want to hear in stores during the Christmas period.

And stores are switching from old-fashioned playlists to more contemporary tunes in a bid to lure in Gen Z customers, new research from retail experience specialist Mood Media reveals.

What people hear in-store really matters with the ‘mood music’ being a key part of what makes consumers feel happy and comfortable when splashing the cash.

While 75% of UK shoppers love in-store Christmas music, younger shoppers opt more for ‘modern classics’ released after the year 2000. However, a Scrooge-like 6% admitted festive soundtracks made them feel ‘irritated’.

But importantly, 42% of shoppers linger longer when Christmas music’s playing and 54% admit to music influencing shopping choice.

The impact of listening to festive tunes in stores is also very strong with 41% of consumers reporting it made them feel ‘nostalgic’ , while 29% said they became ‘more relaxed’.

The music choice breakdown reveals 52% of shoppers love a mix of old and new, 38% want pure traditional music a still small (10%) want a new category, with their top choices including Taylor Swift’s ‘Christmas Tree Farm’, A Nonsense Christmas’ by Sabrina Carpenter and ‘Christmas Without You’ by Mary J Blige, Night Before Christmas by Sam Smith (2020); and Eight Days of Christmas by Destiny’s Child or Beyoncé (2001). 

However, Mariah Carey’s 1994 hit ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’  tops the more traditional tunes list followed by Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee (1958); Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives (1965); Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms (1957); and Last Christmas by Wham! (1984).

Barry McPhillips, head of Creative, International from Mood Media, said: “Christmas tunes tend to evoke nostalgic feelings, but when you’re only 20 years old, a traditional tune from the 1950s feels ancient and not something you can easily connect with. Younger shoppers want to see more modern music added to shop playlists to reflect the memories they made growing up since 2000.”

He noted that almost eight in 10 shoppers actively notice the Christmas music played in stores, so “playing the right tunes could be worth tens of millions of pounds to retailers.”