On average, retailers are quoting a six-day delivery period this year, compared with five days in 2019 and four days in 2018, Accenture found after placing online orders with 52 retailers on November 30.

This comes as last-minute shoppers in London and the Southeast have to rely solely on online to deliver Christmas orders following the closure of ‘non-essential’ shops after the regions were plunged into tier four this weekend.

Capacity in the UK’s delivery network was already stretched and struggling to cope with soaring online sales. Ecommerce trade body IMRG  reported that sales had surged 50% year on year in the first week of December.