With Christmas literally just round the corner, hopefully most of us have sent our cards or bought the presents needed at this time of year is particularly stressful for postal deliveries. It goes without saying that the Christmas period is by far the busiest time of the year for all delivery companies including the Royal mail and yet many of us still leave it to the last minute to order online.

Although over the last 10 years the postal service has improved and you may well get a parcel delivered on time if you order at the last minute it seems silly to take the risk if you do not have to. Even if you are able to complete your order in the allocated time for Christmas delivery it does not allow for issues with stocking or loss of items in the post.

Ideally if you want to start doing Christmas shopping online then you should do it as early as possible to miss the rush. Another alternative is to take advantage of click and collect services that many of the larger retails now offer. This may be a simple reserve and pay in store or complete order which you can then collect within the allocated time.