A new study has claimed that more people will shop online on Christmas Day than watch the Queen.
It is estimated that Brits will spend £1.2 billion online on Christmas Day, with over 11 million shoppers logging on, according to parcel price comparison site, ParcelHero.
“The growth of Christmas Day as a shopping event has become a retail phenomenon,” commented David Jinks, head of consumer research at ParcelHero. “Previously, Boxing Day launched the big post-Christmas sales season but now it’s Christmas Day itself.
“Brits used to slouch in front of Home Alone or the Queen’s speech but, last year, 11 million of us shopped online while just 8.2 million watched the Queen’s Christmas message. There are many reasons why the day has become so popular for shoppers. Often, children are swift to indicate disappointment because they have been overlooked by an aunt or given the wrong toy. Knowing a new present is on its way swiftly restores Christmas cheer.
“Then there’s the emergency option for that moment when you know you have bought your partner the wrong present. Last year, Brits were given £2.2bn-worth of unwanted Christmas gifts, according to eBay. That’s why so many of us console ourselves by buying the gift we really wanted.”
David also pointed out that Christmas Eve same-day deliveries are looking “highly ambitious” this year.
“Amazon, Argos, ASOS, Net-a-Porter and Zara still claim to be able to take an online order and deliver it on the same day,” he said. “However, this year, several of these stores are now wisely saying that 24 December orders will only be deliverable same day for specific postcodes. For ASOS, Net-a-Porter and Zara that’s a significant and sensible change from last year’s UK-wide Christmas Eve final order date. Only Amazon has control over its service because it owns Amazon Logistics, which now delivers around 15% of all UK parcels.
“Given the current strain on delivery services because of Covid and Brexit, we won’t be surprised if retailers change to earlier final order dates as Christmas nears.”
Want to read more news like this? Simply sign up to our daily digest by clicking here. You can also follow @LicensingSource on Twitter and @licensing_source on Instagram.
