Christmas ad blitz as stores tell shoppers to avoid late rush

A NATIONAL advertising campaign urging shoppers to start their Christmas preparations early kicks off today in a desperate attempt to ease pressure on retailers.

The British Retail Consortium will launch the two-week blitz across newspapers and radio channels urging consumers to ‘shop early, start wrapping, enjoy Christmas’.

The cheeky take on the Government’s ‘Stay Alert, Control the Virus, Save Lives’ campaign has a serious message designed to prevent the usual retail rush through late November and December.

Retail bosses are worried about massive queues outside stores during peak demand, as well as bottlenecks at warehouses and courier networks unable to cope with a further jump in online orders from shoppers avoiding cities and town centres.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, whose members account for £180 billion of sales online and in stores, said there are ‘signs some customers have already started a little earlier than usual’.

She said: ‘ While celebrations will no doubt be a little different this year, we know customers want to keep Christmas special. That’s why we’re encouraging people to shop early and prevent the lastminute rush so their fellow customers and all the store colleagues, warehouse workers and delivery drivers have the space they need to stay safe and well.’

High street retail executives told The Mail on Sunday that a positive start to September trading has since trailed off. Sources said there are mounting concerns some chains will not make it to January with trade so subdued and unpredictable.

Richard Lim, chief executive at Retail Economics, said: ‘This is about capacity and whether the industry will cope with this seismic shift – not just with restrictions in shops but a further shift online with warehouses also putting strict social distancing measures in place.’