In an ultra-competitive retail environment, the golden quarter is make or break for many, but what products and trends will win out?

Throughout the month of July retailers give a sneak peak into the products they are backing to make Christmas a success. 

Retail Week takes a look at what products and trends are expected to do well this year across the grocery, toys, electricals, fashion and home categories.

Grocery

This Christmas, the grocery sector will be heavily themed around gin and orange flavours, and gluten-free and vegan options.

Waitrose and The Co-op have chosen bitter orange and clementine respectively as key ingredients for many of their dishes.

Jonathan Moore, Waitrose executive chef, said: “Juniper, the key aromatic ingredient of gin, complements the acidity of bitter orange perfectly and works with a range of sweet and savoury dishes, from confectionery and mince pies to joints of meat and stuffing.”

The Co-op is bringing out a blackberry and sloe gin ice cream, while Aldi is seeking to build on the success of its own brand Oliver Cromwell gin with a limited edition spiced plum and clementine flavour.

Co-op Blackberry and Sloe Gin Ice Cream

Co-op blackberry and sloe gin ice cream

Breige Donaghy, head of the delicious food team at The Co-op, said the grocer will have its largest ever range of meat-free Christmas products this year, which includes 168 lines that are vegan or vegetarian.

This is a trend replicated across the grocers. Waitrose is introducing a vegan ‘beet’ Wellington dish, Asda has created vegan chocolate caramel pots, while Tesco is reprising its cauliflower Wellington product after it proved popular last year.

Waitrose will once again roll out its blockbuster Heston range, which this year is based around the 16th century custom of wassailing – reciting incantations to apple trees to promote a good harvest.

The Heston from Waitrose golden delicious pudding is filled with candied and fresh apple, and flavoured with cinnamon, cider and Calvados.

Heston from Waitrose Golden Delicious Pudding

Heston from Waitrose Golden Delicious pudding

Aldi will once again attempt to steal a march on its more upmarket rivals with British caviar from a father-and-son team in Yorkshire. The ethically sourced caviar is produced by gently massaging the sturgeon allowing the fish to naturally spawn up to 30g of caviar.

Toys

Argos is banking on a major unicorn trend bolstering its Christmas sales with a number of toy designs inspired by the mythical creature.

Unicorns have permeated popular culture in the last few years and are now a regular feature of music videos and Instagram posts.

Argos is getting in on the act with Poopsie Unicorn Surprise (£49), a unicorn that poops glitter, which it is predicting will be a top-seller. Argos also expects Vtech’s Myla the Magical Make Up Unicorn and Feber’s My Lovely Unicorn electric ride-on toys to fly off the shelves.

Argos' Poopsie Unicorn Surprise 'poops' glitter

The Poopsie Unicorn Surprise ‘poops’ glitter

Juliet Ward, head of toy buying at Argos, said: “Social media trends are influencing toys more than ever before, such as the unicorn craze.”

She also believes toys with an interactive element will prove among the most popular, such as Boxer ‘the mischievous robot’. Boxer has infrared cameras that allow its movement to be controlled by hand gestures, while it also has a number of in-built jokes such as it being able to ‘fart’.

Other innovations within the toy space include the Tiny Treasures doll that is designed to smell just like a real baby and is part of the Sainsbury’s-owned Chad Valley brand.

Meanwhile, more traditional toys are also expected to do well. The Entertainer predicts that one of its best performers will be the Nickelodeon-branded Experimake Explosions and Eruptions science set.

It retails at only £20 and features a number of experiments including explosive rockets and an erupting volcano.

Electricals

Electricals retailers are heavily reliant on the popularity of the latest Apple products to drive their Christmas trading performance. This year will be no different as Apple is expected to launch new iPhone models in September, which could include a more affordable iPhone X.

However, if the latest update of the iPhone models does not capture the public’s imagination, there are plenty of other gadgets on the market that could prove a hit with tech lovers.

John Lewis is selling the premium Mavic Air Drone

John Lewis is selling the premium Mavic air drone

The fashion for retro and selfies might prove a winner, with John Lewis predicting its Fujifilm Instax mini 70 instant camera (£89.99) will sell well. The camera takes Polaroid-style instant pictures and has a built in selfie mode.

High-end drones are also expected to fly off the shelves.

John Lewis believes its DJI Mavic air drone will be one of its best performers this Christmas despite it currently retailing at £769. It has a maximum range of 4.3 miles, but in order to fly it this far owners will need a Civil Aviation Authority permit. Those without a permit will be limited to flying it below 120m and within their line of sight. The camera can take 4K film and is able to track 16 subjects at once.

The relentless marketing of voice assistant devices by the tech giants is likely to drive significant demand. Dixons Carphone is predicting  both the Google Home Mini and the Amazon Echo Spot will be among its top sellers this Christmas.

“Voice control is set to take the cake for this year’s most in-demand technology,” says Dixons Carphone chief customer officer Antreas Athanassopoulos.

Fashion

Many fashion retailers keep their powder dry in July when it comes to revealing what they think will be the winning products over Christmas in a fast-fashion-dominated world.

Primark will unveil its winter collection in September, while Asos and H&M have not yet released their winter lookbooks.

A sequin dress from Debenhams

A sequin dress from Debenhams

The major supermarkets, Debenhams and discounter Pep & Co have revealed their fashion ranges for Christmas, while clues as to what the leading fashion brands will bring out can be gleaned from the catwalk.

Debenhams’ ranges suggests the themes of opulence, glamour and retro will feature prominently over Christmas. Its Star by Julien MacDonald range features luxe metallic and all-over sequin dresses as ‘showstopper’ party pieces. Pep & Co is following suit with a number of sequin dresses.

The retro trend will appear across the Debenhams ranges. The H! by Henry Holland and Nine by Savannah Miller collections will feature jumpers with retro prints and 1970s style nostalgia respectively.

Debenhams is also stocking an extensive range of leopard- and zebra-print designs. Animal print will be back in a big way for winter 2018 after being seen on the catwalks of Victoria Beckham, Calvin Klein, Givenchy, Balenciaga and Tom Ford.

Homewares

Classic Nordic designs are set to stay this year and will have a strong influence in the homeware ranges of Debenhams, Asda and Sainsbury’s.

Julie Varma, senior design director at George Home, says Asda’s Nordic range will focus on “classic red and white tones creating a homely feel”.

Meanwhile, Debenhams’ Nordic homewares products feature “calm-inducing colours and carefully considered textures with a strong sense of serenity run throughout the home for the new Nordic movement”.

The Sainsbury's Urban Escape collection

The Sainsbury’s Urban Escape collection

The Newstalgia dining range from Sainsbury’s combines 1950s nostalgia from the post-war boom era with a “modern Scandinavian edge”. Products are based around a yellow and deep aqua blue colour scheme to add a sense of vibrancy.

The Danish concept of hygge, which describes a sense of escapism, calm and tranquillity, is the inspiration of Argos’ Urban Escape range. The sense of calm will be communicated through a soft and gentle palette of pale greens and cool blues.

The theme of opulence that can be expected in fashion will also emerge in homeware.

Sainsbury’s and Argos both have a Midnight Opulence collection, which comprises products that are a mix of “decadent brass, dark woods and embellished fabrics”.

The unicorn theme that is so prevalent within the toys category is also set to make an appearance within home. One of Tesco’s hero products this Christmas will be unicorn bedding for children, which will complement a unicorn cake it is also bringing out.