As millions of shoppers get ready to hit the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, a new survey has revealed that almost half of Brits (46%) are worried that gifts bought online will not arrive in time for Christmas.

The new survey*** released by Shift, an online moving marketplace offering a smarter way to order a delivery person and van service to move anything and everything, suggests supply chain issues and the fallout from Brexit have led people to feel anxious about the items or gifts they order from online marketplaces arriving on time this Christmas or at all.

On average, respondents to the survey said they are likely to buy almost half of their Christmas gifts or decorations online this year. However, more than a third of people from London** (42%) do not currently trust that products or gifts ordered from overseas will arrive at all in time for Christmas, with more than half*** (61%) worrying that a product or Christmas gift bought from an online sales marketplace will be delivered to the wrong address.

With experts predicting Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales will be higher than usual both in store and online, extra pressure will be put on delivery services and drivers to get gifts and items delivered up and down the country to consumers safely, and on time, ahead of the Christmas rush.

Neil Carroll, Head of Customer Service at Shift, said: “This year’s spending on Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals is expected to be bigger than ever in the rush to get a bargain this Christmas. However, consumers’ concerns are understandable as the extra demand will put pressure on delivery services and drivers to respond and help overcome the logistical challenge of the Christmas rush.

“This survey shows that whilst people are looking to buy gifts for their loved ones online, they are anxious about the products arriving on time or at all this Christmas. This is understandable following the recent fuel crisis and issues around the supply chain, but delivery services like Shift can help to order a person and van service on demand as efficiently and sustainably as possible using clever tech and algorithms so you can trust gifts will get from A to B on time for the big day.”

Shift, founded four years ago by tech entrepreneur Jacob Corlett, offers a very easy way to order a delivery person and van service – on demand, and efficiently. Previously, the logistics industry has revolved around manual processes which can be an inefficient way to provide a delivery or removal service.

Instead of having people manually routing bookings, Shift uses tech and data to map out drivers and fleets’ existing schedules, finding ‘dead time’, and matching it up with people who need to move stuff – be that as a third-party delivery service for online marketplaces such as eBay and Gumtree, or Ikea, in which Shift can arrange items bought online to be moved from the seller to the buyer.