Christmas list reveals which retailers have been naughty or nice

The home delivery expert ParcelHero has been making a list, and checking it twice, of all Britain’s favourite retailers’ final Christmas mailing order deadlines. It’s found not every retailer has been good at revealing their final order dates this year.

ParcelHero’s annual Christmas mailing tool is rapidly becoming as much of an institution as mince pies and mistletoe. This year’s retailers’ deadline list comes with a warning though. The home delivery specialist is cautioning that, with Christmas only a little over one month away, many retailers have yet to publish their Christmas final order dates this year; and many stores’ phonelines and chat services don’t seem to know their own final order dates either.

Parcelhero’s Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks MILT, says: ‘We’ve made our list and checked it more than twice, and I’m afraid we’ve found out some retailers are being naughty and still not published their final delivery dates, and even when they are available online, their staff seem unaware of them.’

Says David: ‘Piecing together final delivery dates can be a puzzle, which is probably why Jigsaw is one of the companies having trouble putting the pieces together. Researching 2018’s list last week we were told by their helpline their deadline for Christmas orders is the 14^th December – that would be very early. We’ve been checking it twice and their website now reveals it is in fact the 21^st December; which is much better for last-minute shoppers.’

And Jigsaw aren’t the only culprits. ‘Game’s phoneline advised us that their final order deadline is December 10^th: that’s 14 whole days before Christmas. It’s yet to publish its final order dates online; but if they are that early that leaves them pretty much out of the game…’

One final retailer on the naughty list is Joules, who’s website is currently (20th November 2018) declaring they can no longer guarantee deliveries for Christmas. Says David: ‘That seems extremely pessimistic. The explanation is they have probably yet to update their 2017 Christmas page, but now is the time many consumers will be starting to plan their orders, so they are certainly leaving things a little late.’

But ParcelHero says a few retailers are being nice to shoppers who like to delay ordering until they have found their bargains. Says David: ‘A handful of retailers have really risen to the challenge of flexible Christmas deliveries. Net-a-Porter is one of a handful of retailers that you can order from as late as Christmas Eve (before 10am), and still get your gift delivered before the big day. That’s ideal for last minute shoppers or those who have had other orders go awry and need something to arrive for Christmas. Last year Amazon and Argos also pushed final orders back to the 24^th.’

Concludes David: ‘We know many shoppers rely on our list of gift mailing and online ordering deadlines. That’s why we do more than check it twice, we check it every day in the run up to Christmas to make sure it’s as up to date as possible, so consumers can be confident they know exactly when to order by. See the full list at https://www.parcelhero.com/events/christmas-gifts-delivery