We’ve all been there. You find yourself rushing around the high street trying to find a gift worthy of your loved ones’ attention. It’s a pain and anguish you could have avoided by planning ahead.

While you may well be doing most of your shopping online, the scenario of leaving it too late is much the same. In many ways buying online has opened a real Pandora’s box where the sheer size of the options available can cause additional confusion and distress.

As a society, we have never been so spoilt for choice. Buying a present is easier than it’s ever been, but conversely, we are busier than ever and as such still don’t have the time we need in order to shop for Christmas presents effectively.

In an effort to allay your concerns and with an eye to making your holiday period as smooth as is humanly possible, why not take a look at these five reasons why you need to get going with your Christmas shopping NOW!

Shipping Delays

Buying gifts online, such as the classy, inexpensive jewelry you can get here, does make finding that special present much more straightforward. However, too many shoppers fail to adequately address the issues related to delivering the items you purchase.

Whatever you are buying online, and regardless of where it’s being delivered from, it will inevitably get stuck in the rush that surrounds the two or three weeks leading up to Christmas Day, so why not avoid the bottleneck entirely?

COVID and Supply Chain Problems

Aside from the typical issues relating to deliveries around the holidays, you need to pay close attention to the impact that COVID has had on supply chains. This means that the gifts you want to buy may not even be available in the run-up to Christmas as the supply of the goods themselves may have ground to a halt.

Items are stuck in ports and awaiting collection by a dwindling number of truck drivers; some blockages affect the entire process. Planning, buying, and ordering as early as possible will negate or lessen the issue significantly.

Let’s not also forget the very real possibility of another lockdown or a spike in the pandemic, which would add another potential roadblock. Planning ahead will always help keep you one step in front of such possible disasters.

Buying Smart

Retailers aren’t dumb. They know that people lose track of time and get sidetracked, and then end up desperately looking for presents at the last minute. That’s why they hike up their prices in the weeks ahead of Christmas.

The increases in price at Christmas are something we are aware of but for some reason accept. It’s almost as if we’ve entered into an unwritten contract with business owners, and in this, we are willing to accept the predictable increases they force upon us. It’s almost as if they are punishing us for leaving things to the last minute.

So with this in mind, start the process of finding the perfect gift now and avoid doing your shopping precisely at the time the stores will look to make the most of your desperation.

Making a Decision

Often we can get so caught up in our daily lives and the headaches that this brings that we leave less time and energy for the process of considering and locating a present that your friends, loved ones, and family members truly wish for.

Don’t you long for that look of complete satisfaction and joy that comes from someone getting a gift that is exactly what they wanted? Aren’t you tired of the expression of mild contentment or apathy resulting from giving a gift that is either gloriously random or just isn’t to their taste at all?

When was the last time you got someone a present that you actually thought was a great gift? We all tend to shop for gifts as an afterthought, and the results of this are always very clear to the receiver, and let’s face it, it’s not a great feeling to get a gift that is in no way suitable.

Take Advantage of Pre-Christmas Sales

Retailers know they are going to see money flooding in over November and December; for many, it’s their lifeblood. This has resulted in many physical shops and online stores running pre-Christmas sales.

This gives you the chance to find some genuine bargains, in doing so you not only get your shopping done weeks ahead of time, but you’ll also save a great deal of money.

All of these suggestions should help you over the period running up to the holidays. If you follow this advice closely enough, then you may experience the calm smugness of walking past a massive queue outside your local department store on Christmas Eve.