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Christmas Countdown Survey: A quarter of shoppers yet to start their Christmas shopping teeing up the busiest weekend of the year

Over a quarter of shoppers are still yet to start their Christmas shopping with just nine shopping days left until the big day. Research from Retail Economics revealed that just over a quarter of consumers intend to spend more this Christmas than last year which is outweighed by over a third who said they are likely to spend less.

Chart 1
Source: Retail Economics

With just nine more shopping days remaining, 41 per cent suggested that they won’t be purchasing any more goods online compared with 27 per cent this time last week. Nervousness around delivery times and being at home to accept parcels means many shoppers would rather complete their shopping on the high street. Just under half of those that said they will still shop online suggested they will use click-and-collect.

Chart 2
Source: Retail Economics

The Retail Economics Christmas Panic Index shows that 32 per cent of shoppers remain completely relaxed about completing their Christmas shopping on time, down from 42 per cent this time last week. 19 per cent of shoppers said they were a bit nervous or panic stricken with the amount of time left to complete their shopping, up from 13 per cent last week.

Richard Lim, Chief Executive, Retail Economics said: "With just nine more shopping days remaining before the big day, over a quarter of shoppers are still yet to start their Christmas shopping teeing up this weekend to be the busiest of the year.

"The winners this Christmas will be the retailers providing a seamless omnichannel proposition. Remarkably, around 60 per cent of shoppers who took part in our survey still intend to do some of their remaining shopping online, testament to the confidence they have in online deliveries and retailers not letting them down.

"A staggering 46 per cent said that they will use click-and-collect to complete some of their online orders in the final days before Christmas. Convenience is key to winning loyalty but click-and-collect also drives shoppers back into their stores which inevitably leads to more impulse buying.”

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