Almost£800,000 will be spent a minute as millions of people leave their festive shopping to the last few hours. More than£200 million of shopping will be paid for by credit cards.
The study revealed that almost half of adults will be doing their Christmas shopping this Sunday. Sainsbury's Bank credit card manager Donald Macleod said: 'Our research suggests that it could be a busy time for the shops on Christmas Eve and that a lot of people will be using their credit cards.'
To cope with the Christmas Eve crush, many stores are opening their doors half an hour early for browsing. Keen shoppers can fill their trolleys but won't be able to pay until 10 am. Stores will also be allowed to keep tills open 30 minutes after closing their doors.
However, according to a YouGov survey of more than 2,000 people for the campaign group My Sunday My Choice - which lobbies for the deregulation of Sunday trading - 40 per cent of people were not aware of the restricted opening times.
My Sunday My Choice spokesman David Ramsden forecast chaos. He said: 'The tills can't open until 10 am and nor can the customer service desks. People working in the supermarket won't be allowed to point people in the direction of goods they are looking for either. You will have trolleys blocking the aisles and people waiting for tills to open.'
The Keep Sunday Special campaign said that supermarkets and high street stores will be under pressure to bend trading laws and extend opening hours, as many consumers are unaware of the restricted opening times this Sunday.
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