Forty per cent of people across the UK choose to have items they have ordered via safe shopping online delivered to their place of work on a regular basis, according to a new survey from Barclaycard.

In addition, almost a tenth of respondents said that this was a daily occurrence, which is an interesting reflection on e-commerce habits as well as an issue that employers will, no doubt, be attempting to tackle.

The study, which focused on how consumers are expected to have behaved over the recent Bank Holiday weekend, also revealed that businesses were likely to receive six million packages in the aftermath of the e-commerce frenzy that occurred during this extended break.

This is twice the normal amount of post that organisations have to handle on a daily basis, indicating the extent to which shopping online is shifting expectations.

Report spokesperson, Marc Pettican, revealed that even Barclaycard itself is having to gear up to receive more packages than usual as workers take delivery of items they ordered over the weekend.

He explained that the convenience of being able to shop online means that people are more likely to make purchases when they have a few minutes spare, with workplace delivery an added bonus for people who cannot stay at home to accept items they have ordered.

The most popular items to be delivered to offices across the UK are books, perhaps because their compact size is seen as the most acceptable to receive at work without overstepping corporate etiquette.

Analysts believe that with more people choosing to live in towns and cities, the number of people who have a letterbox to which they alone have access is dwindling. This is another reason for the rise in workplace deliveries.