Christmas shopping this year will be late, it may even be the twelve days of Christmas, how traditional.

A lot of retailers are not dropping their price, well not until Christmas is over, so if you want presents then the price shown is the price you will probably pay if you want it as a Christmas gift.

Deflation will occur over the essentials of life not the luxuries, and gifts are luxuries by definition. So, expect some cost cutting from the food shops, but not the present shops.

The VAT cut, was a joke, done in very poor taste, it was quite a divisive move, making shoppers think they would get the full benefit, but of course it costs to relabel, and it is not 2.5% off the current price, and if you are being fair you split between the retailer and the customer, which is something like 1% off price.