You might want to do most of your festive shopping with help from the Prime Day deals and Black Friday deals coming this year, according to the industry body of online retailers.
It’s still three months until Christmas, but demand is predicted to surge as more people shop online than ever before. Many firms have indicated that they may struggle to cope, particularly if consumers leave their purchases until the last minute.
Speaking to the BBC, Andy Mulcahy from IMRG, the industry body for online retailers, said: "We think the volumes are going to be really very excessive this year. Whilst that in itself is not a problem, getting too much of it too close to Christmas is going to be a bit of a problem.”
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While Mulcahy dissuades anyone from panic buying, he advises to spread out your shopping evenly. "If you can spread out your shopping and do quite a lot of it in November, maybe even a bit of it now, then that would really help."
Huge demand
The BBC noted that, even before lockdown took place in the UK, online sales in the first months of 2020 were around 5% higher than last year. Covid-19 has only made those numbers soar, and growth rates are predicted to be around 40 to 50% according to IMRG and show no signs of falling.
"At this point, I think we can expect an increase of at least 30% for the peak festive trading season, but if stores have to close this might push to 50%," Mr. Mulcahy stated.
Delivery companies have also highlighted just how busy the last six months have been. "It's been like Christmas for the last six months for us," said Mike Hancox, the boss of delivery firm Yodel. "We think it will be the biggest online Christmas ever, in some way. Certainly, at Yodel it will be our biggest ever year. We're planning for success and I think every other delivery carrier will be expecting the same."
Present day
Between Amazon Prime Day 2020, which takes place on October 13-14 this year, and Black Friday on November 27, there will be plenty of opportunities to get your Christmas shopping done early, and save money while doing so.
Stay tuned to TechRadar as we'll be bringing you all the deals from both sales events, so you can save on the best OLED TV, snag the best PS4 games for less or upgrade to the best graphics cards without breaking the bank.
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