'Big opportunity' for first store to deliver on Christmas Day - report

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 20, 2019

There’s “huge pent-up demand” for retailers to start delivering parcels on Christmas Day itself, according to a new study, with delivery specialist Parcelhero saying the early movers in this area could take advantage of what has become a £1 billion Christmas Day e-shopping market.

At the moment, retailers including Amazon and Asos, deliver up to Christmas Eve, but new research by the home delivery specialist suggests that those starting December 25 deliveries could reap rewards.

The company said its research shows that 20% of shoppers would pay up to £5 extra for a December 25 delivery.

Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks, said that Britons spent £1 billion online on Christmas Day last year and “for the first time a number of online retailers reported taking more orders on Christmas Day than Boxing Day, the traditional start of the sales season. Several retailers actually kicked-off their sales on the 25th, but not one retailer actually delivers items on the big day.

“Already food delivery companies such as Uber Eats and Just Eats are offering Christmas Day deliveries; so the next obvious step is online same-day deliveries on the 25th itself. And nearly 20% of shoppers told us they would pay up to £5 extra for a Christmas Day delivery if it got them out of an embarrassing situation or enabled them to spend gift vouchers and get their items immediately.”

Reasons for consumers wanting Christmas Day deliveries include buying gifts for people they hadn’t expected to needs gifts for, disappointed kids and adults who didn’t get the presents they wanted, other gifting ‘emergencies’, or just the desire to use those gift vouchers as the clearance sales start.

Jinks added: “Last year Britons were given £2.2 billion of unwanted Christmas gifts, according to eBay. How great it would be to be able to spend your gift vouchers on something you actually want that would still arrive on the big day itself.”

But he warned that retailers would have to handle any shift to December 25 deliveries carefully. “Changing retail customs on sensitive days is a delicate issue. When John Major’s Government introduced Sunday trading back in 1994 it was highly controversial, but consumers eventually embraced Sunday shopping,” he said.

“Perhaps the same will hold true for Christmas Day deliveries? Not everyone in the UK takes part in Christian festivals, for example; while other distribution centre workers and drivers might be grateful to avoid re-runs of Jingle All the Way and earn what would presumably be a significant bonus for delivering on Christmas Day itself.”