Peak Christmas Panic on 22nd December

As we hurtle towards Christmas, days left for grocery shopping, gift buying and travel are disappearing fast, with panic slowly building amongst consumers. According to analysis from delivery business Gophr, peak Christmas panic will grip the nation on the Friday before Christmas (22nd).

Coined ‘National Day of Christmas Panic’, the 22nd December will represent the height of Christmas chaos and panic due to:

• As of 4th December, there was no availability for the most popular Christmas delivery slots, namely the 22nd and 23rd December for several major supermarkets including Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Ocado, ASDA and Morrisons.
• There being limited availability on train travel out of London, with, for example, only a single train journey open for advanced ticket purchase from London-Nottingham on 22nd December as of 4th December
• A repeat of last year’s busiest day on the roads (Friday 23rd December 2022) for pre-Christmas traffic, so called “Frantic Friday”, with car journeys expected to reach almost 4m on 22nd December

Additionally, Gophr is expecting an 80% increase (vs daily average) in the number of delivery journeys it will make on Thursday 21st December, marking the last realistic day for delivery before Christmas day. Those who’ve left it too late will have to brave the shops on Super Saturday (23rd December) in order to get those last-minute Christmas gifts in person.

Seb Robert, founder and CEO of Gophr commented: “Every year we say to ourselves that we won’t leave our Christmas prep to the last minute, and yet every year there is that sense of panic. It comes as no surprise that as a nation we reach ‘peak Christmas panic’ on the last Friday before Christmas, with delivery slots for groceries being at a premium, travel routes at their busiest and delivery options dwindling before the big day.”

To pinpoint the ‘National Day of Panic’ for 2023, Gophr number crunchers analysed; the delivery slots for all major UK supermarkets, train timetables for all major train routes out of London in December, historic RAC and AA data for travel patterns during the festive period, as well as Gophr’s proprietary delivery data.

Christmas Panic

Robert concluded: “A broader choice of delivery options can of course mitigate some of this panic, with many consumers looking for faster options to ensure that they get their products in good time, leaving more time for merriment and less time for stressful shopping and travel.”