Christmas presents are surging by 41% this year due to delivery bottlenecks

In-demand Christmas presents are surging in price by up to 41 per cent, thanks to delivery bottlenecks, new research claims.

As global lockdowns rise, production interruptions and trading post jams are causing products to sell out.

This in turn is skyrocketing costs in tech, toys, home accessories, clothing and more, according to data from price comparison website Idealo which monitors the cost of items from a number of retailers daily. 

It compared last year’s average prices for popular gifting categories in December with current average prices to find the change in cost in the face of some product shortages.

In demand Christmas presents are surging in price by up to 41% due to delivery bottlenecks

It found those looking to gift a VR headset this Christmas will see the biggest price increase of up to 41 per cent, closely followed by speakers which have seen a further cost of 29 per cent.

Other products such as headphones including Apple Airpods 2 have increased 29 per cent while the price of children’s bikes has risen 28 per cent and video games like Call Of Duty Cold War have gone up by 13 per cent, according to Idealo.

Meanwhile, televisions have also gone up 12 per cent.

Kitchen accessories such as bread makers and food processors have also increased in price by 5 and 10 per cent, respectively. 

For children, toy action figures have increased by 14 per cent, kids scooters are up by 11 per cent and Barbies are up 8 per cent. 

Idealo says a shortage of presents is being exacerbated by the new coronavirus variant which is subsequently is resulting in delays with countries doubling down on staff and keeping workplaces open. Lockdowns are also having a huge effect. 

Supply and demand is another issue with production and shipping delays meaning items are becoming more expensive. 

Katy Phillips, brand and communications manager at Idealo, adds: ‘Unfortunately, the spike in Covid-19 cases is resulting in lockdowns across Europe and beyond.

‘Manufacturing processes are slowing down and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get in demand items to the UK in time for Christmas, and therefore prices are increasing across the board.’

‘We hope our data shows which gifts to avoid this year, as they may become cheaper in the new year once suppliers have caught up with demand.

‘It’s not all doom and gloom though, there are some items such as perfume and aftershaves that are actually cheaper at the moment, which means they could be the go-to gifting choice to save some money over the holidays.

‘We recommend using price alerts to track the cost of your wanted items over time, and checking the product amount on other sites to ensure you’re getting it at its cheapest. 

‘If you have understanding family and friends, you could always wait until 2022 to buy the gift at a smaller cost.’

A small number of products have dropped in price. 

This includes laptops, with average prices down 23 per cent, musical instruments which are decreasing in price by 19 per cent and Lego sets, including the Star Wars Millenium Falcon and Frozen Elsa’s Magical Ice Palace, which are down by two per cent.  

Customers looking to save money on presents can use price trackers to see how much items go up and down over time and to find out when is the best time to buy.  

Idealo is a price comparison and price tracking site that compared data from its website for December 2020 and December 2021.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk