Christmas shoppers take a chance on delays

UK shoppers aren't heeding the warnings about delays to orders placed online - and many who are planning to shop online for Christmas presents haven't even started yet.

One consumer group warned that last Thursday - 23 November - was the last day e-tailers offering guaranteed Christmas delivery should be taken at their word, yet by Friday 24 November 46 per cent of respondents to a silicon.com poll said they'd not even started their online shopping.

Clearly the majority of consumers believe the warning from Consumers Direct was an overreaction to problems in past years.

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In fact only seven per cent of shoppers said they had completed their online Christmas shopping last week, compared to 22 per cent who said they would trust the e-tailers' own final dates for delivery - many of which run well into the third week of December.

Meanwhile only eight per cent of respondents said they won't do any Xmas shopping online this year.

Certainly large e-tailers such as Amazon advertise the cut-off point for consumers but in past years silicon.com has heard from plenty of consumers who are left giftless by major e-tailers, despite getting orders in before the deadline.

And there is much the e-tailers can do to improve their chances of having happy customers.

Charlie Morgan from leading 'boys toys' website Firebox.com said meeting customers' expectations at Christmas is absolutely vital to any successful e-tailer that wishes to remain so.

And although Morgan says getting orders in early to avoid disappointment is the best way for consumers to go about Christmas shopping, Firebox.com is offering guarantees on orders placed before 16:00 on 21 December.

Making this happen involves using a combination of Royal Mail and courier services, with guarantees from both partners about delivery times.

But there are no short cuts businesses can take and planning must be thorough. Morgan said laying the groundwork for the annual mayhem of Christmas is a year-long process.

She said: "We start planning our next Christmas as soon as the current one is finished," including the hiring of around 100 extra staff come August as activity starts to increase.