Christmas shoppers expected to splash out £2.6bn in last-minute spree

High streets will be at least 45 per cent busier than usual tomorrow and footfall in major department stores is expected to increase by 127 per cent, according to payments processor Worldpay.

Saturday is expected to kick off a £17.6 billion week-long spending spree on cards ahead of Christmas Day next Sunday, with card spending expected to reach more than £3 billion on Friday December 23.

James Frost, chief marketing and commercial officer at Worldpay UK, said: "Christmas is the only time of the year that we convince ourselves it's okay to overspend and our latest data suggests trading in the run-up to Christmas could be up by as much as seven per cent compared to 2015.

"For retailers this means putting more staff on the shop floor to offer advice, locate items and take payments, alleviating pressure from the tills as customers queue to purchase items and making the shopping experience painless even at the busiest of times."

ShopperTrak's National Retail Index suggests that footfall on Saturday will be up by 27.7 per cent on the daily Saturday average, an earlier rush to the high street than last year as shoppers start to shift from "clicks to bricks".

But it names Tuesday for peak shopper footfall, later than last year due to the rise of click and collect and increased consumer confidence in later fulfilment before the Christmas cut off delivery dates.

ShopperTrak director Steve Richardson said: "In the past two years we have seen the move from online to in-store shopping take place on the last Monday before Christmas as consumers take to the high street to finish their festive shopping, fuelled by fears of Christmas deliveries not arriving in time for the big day."

Meanwhile, 10 million Britons are expected to spend £894 million on Friday next week – £865,158 a minute – in a last-minute dash for gifts and Christmas food on the day many receive their last pay of the year, VoucherCodes.co.uk and the Centre for Retail Research said.