Consumers ‘put off’ buying Christmas gifts online

Almost one third of UK shoppers have been put of buying Christmas gifts online because of the risk of unreliable deliveries, according to a survey by TomTom.

The survey of more than 1,000 UK shoppers found that 27 per cent had received late Christmas presents after buying online, and 31 per cent of those surveyed were put off buying Christmas gifts online owing to “the risk of unreliable deliveries”.

Worries about late delivery have prompted 45 per cent of the surveyed consumers to plan to order online presents at least five weeks prior to Christmas day.

Taco van der Leij, vice president of marketing, TomTom, said “Online spending in the run up to Christmas could stretch the resources of e-retailers, and puts delivery operations under pressure. Our research suggests up to 80 per cent of consumers will buy online again this year,” said Leij. “Robust delivery processes can help to retain consumer confidence and future revenues over the festive shopping period.”

According to the research, consumers that are over the age of 35 are the most “tolerant” of late or missing delivers, with only 26 per cent put off online Christmas shopping – compared to 39 per cent of 16 to 34 year olds.