According to a recent survey Christmas shoppers who complete all their gift-buying in November can expect to save more than £80 on their total spend. The research undertaken by Secretsales, who surveyed 2000 adults, revealed some interesting statistics.

The survey tells us that 10% of shoppers begin their Christmas shopping during the January sales and nearly half of shoppers bought presents during this year's Christmas presents in the mid-season and summer sales earlier in 2013.

This seems a pretty high number of forward planners, however the figures are tempered by the fact that 40% of shoppers admit they have never bagged an early Christmas bargain. The last minute dash to the shops remains a newsworthy feature of Christmas shopping, but those who leave it this late are expected to spend £63 more than they had anticipated, according to the survey. In fact one in ten confess to splashing out as much as an additional £120 on last minute gifts.

Somewhat surprisingly the survey states that women are more guilty of last minute splurges than men, with nearly half making an eleventh hour dash to the shops in search of presents. When it comes to pyjama orders we tend to experience a notably higher number of last minute requests from male buyers. Last year one of our customers, who rang us after the last posting date, even drove an 80 mile round trip to collect a pair of Book Worm pjs that his wife had requested!

Of course it's a great idea to complete all your shopping as early as possible, but for those who just can't get motivated about Christmas until Santa's boarding his sleigh, it will be of some relief to know that PJ Pan will be posting orders right up until Christmas Eve. Of course Royal Mail set recommended last posting dates which are 20th December for 1st class post and 23rd December for Special Delivery.

Avoid the Christmas rush!