CHRISTMAS is now 100 days away and new research has revealed it takes consumers in the north west 44 online and in-store shopping trips and 20 hours of planning to get ready for the festive day.

The study from TopCashback.co.uk also found while Christmas may be the time for giving and good cheer, it is also the time for procrastinating and inefficiency.

Nearly three-quarters of consumers in the north west admitted to getting distracted and not achieving what they want from Christmas shopping trips.

And half put off festive buying for as long as possible.

This culminates in online and offline browsers dilly-dallying away nine hours of their time when they should have been shopping and adds up to a bill of more than £56 in unnecessary coffees, long lunches, and buying things for themselves rather than gifts for others.

Despite the tendency to put off scouring for gifts, consumers in the north west still have the best intentions and would ideally like everything completed by mid-December or the end of November.

But, if past records are to go by, nearly a fifth will not have it finished until Christmas Eve.