Christmas Day looms on the horizon for those Brits who have left it to the last moment to complete their gift shopping. New research indicates that consumers will be using their credit cards to do their primary shopping, according to Sainsbury’s Finance.
Many consumers have of course already completed their shopping. Even as the shops open for Christmas Eve, there are plenty of consumers who are still racking up the purchases on their credit cards. The smell of burning plastic is in the air as UK consumers snap up the best bargains they can find as the deadline looms.
Sainsbury’s Finance expects some £6.7 billion to be spent this Christmas season. Nearly £2 billion of this will be from credit card sales, which represents just under one out of every three purchases. The remainder of the purchases this Christmas season will most likely be either cash or through the use of debit cards attached to consumers’ current accounts.
Even the nasty winter weather gripping the country has not been detrimental to sales figures. While it is true that the High Street has been rather empty due to ice and snow, online shopping figures have been stronger than ever. The ease of use that online credit card transactions encompass have left consumers sitting at home safe and dry.
Despite the convenience that shopping online brings to consumers, there are still complications. Since the weather has been particularly icy as of late, this can effect delivery times for goods purchased over the internet. Consumers need to be made aware that the perfect gift they might have picked out for mum and dad may end up being delayed until sometime after Christmas due to poor travel conditions. Santa’s sleigh doesn’t have snow tyres, after all.