A report commissioned by Aptos found that the majority of British shoppers are eager to get organised well ahead of Christmas this year by completing their gift-buying obligations ahead of the final day of November.

70 per cent said that the key factor they took into account when splashing out on products ahead of the festive season was price - hence the reason that many use shopping online to make a saving compared with what they would have to spend on the high street.

Half said that they chose which e-commerce site to use according to the speed with which their order would be delivered, with a similar proportion citing the availability of time-limited deals as an important asset of any good outlet.

A little over a third argued that they were most interested in shopping with sites that usually provided a good level of stock for popular items, which is obviously relevant during peak periods when demand is high.

When the results of the survey were broken down into genders, it was found that women tend to be a lot better prepared for Christmas than men, with females more likely to hit the pre-December deadline for gift-buying. Meanwhile, the male respondents to the report tended to see Christmas Eve as the final day on which it was acceptable to purchase gifts, for obvious reasons.

A growing number of retailers operating online have begun catering to last-minute shoppers with various express delivery options, but the cut-off points for ordering tend to be earlier than December 24th. This means that it is important for all consumers to take note and get organised as much as possible to avoid being caught out. This is the best way to keep everyone smiling on Christmas Day.