With less than 50 days until Christmas, a survey of 2000 adults by secretsales.com found that people who complete their festive gift shopping before 1 December save an average of £84 on their total gift spend.

This means that by shopping in the next three week period, the UK could wipe £4.2bn off its gift receipt.

According to the survey, one in ten (10%) shoppers begin their Christmas shopping in the January sales and nearly half of shoppers (45%) bought this year’s Christmas presents in 2013 mid-season and summer sales. However, 40% of shoppers admit they have never tried bag an early Christmas bargain.

Despite many consumers planning ahead, last minute panic is still a feature of Christmas shopping, with almost half (43%) of Brits dashing to the shops on Christmas Eve, spending on average £63 more than they had anticipated. In fact, one in ten (10%) admit to splashing as much as an additional £120 on last minute gifts. Woman are more guilty of last minute shopping splurges than men, with nearly half (48 per cent) making an eleventh hour dash to the shops in search of presents.

Helen Kaye from secretsales.com said: “The research shows it really does pay to get your Christmas shopping wrapped up early, with those who do saving £84 on average. Making lists will help you stick to your budget and avoid that last minute rush to the high street. Sign up to online retail newsletters of your choice, this will help keep you updated on current sales and upcoming offers, which you can then compare and contrast with other sites.”