A number of retailers are extending their delivery cut-off times, which will see drivers working late on Christmas Eve to ensure orders are delivered on time for Christmas Day.
Amazon and Argos are the first major retailers offering home delivery for those who have left their shopping to the final hours.
Argos customers can order items eligible for its Fast Track delivery until 1pm on Christmas Eve for delivery in time for Christmas Day. However, its usual 7pm to 10pm evening delivery slot will not be available.
Currys PC World, and online retailers Asos, Very and Littlewoods are also accepting orders until late on December 23 for delivery in time for Christmas.
Amazon is offering same-day evening deliveries on December 24 in Greater London and 13 other cities on orders made as late as 12noon, while Amazon Prime members can order selected items as late as 9.45pm on Christmas Eve for a two-hour delivery in Greater London and eight other cities.
However, the online retail giant has warned that anyone relying on leaving their shopping until then that the delivery times were limited and subject to availability and “may change due to circumstances outside of our reasonable control”.
Meanwhile, John Lewis is extending its Click & Collect order cut off by 24 hours to 8pm on December 23 to allow customers to collect their orders in-store until they close on Christmas Eve.
John Lewis operations director Dino Rocos said: “With Christmas Eve falling on a Sunday this year we’re expecting to see a gifting surge right up until the last minute.
“Our decision to extend Click & Collect cut off times this Christmas means that for our customers the stress of Christmas shopping is a thing of the past, allowing them to spend more time with their families and less time chasing parcels at this important time of year.”
The news come as new Ofcom research shows that UK consumers spend more than double the amount on internet shopping – £2175 per head – than consumers in any other country in its international comparison.
The Ofcom research also shows that one third of UK consumers have used same-day delivery services, 62 per cent have used next-day delivery services for online orders, while 60 per cent have used click-and-collect services – more than any other country.
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette’s free daily email newsletter
