Whether life’s caught up with you fast this year, or you’re just stuck for what to buy someone tricky, last-minute Christmas shopping can be hugely stressful. And we hate to break it to you, but with barely over a week until the big day, we’re officially getting down to the crunch.

That being said, don’t feel too bad if you’ve got some festive shopping still to do, because you’re definitely not the only one. House of Fraser surveyed 2,000 Brits on the subject of finding gifts at this time of year, and learned that, even though 11 December is the most popular date for Christmas shopping, 1 in 10 of us put it off until just five days before Christmas Day.

That’s why the department store chain has teamed up with shopping expert Chantelle Znideric so she can share her top tips for getting any last-minute gifting in the bag. Her advice? Try a little thing called the ‘three words’ method.

“The worst thing you can do if you have left your Christmas shopping to the last-minute is panic and buy ill-suited presents,” she explains. “Instead, create a list of everyone you need to consider and jot down three words against them. 

“These notes could be to do with their personality, items they love or even favourite colours — whatever comes to mind first is the right direction to go. The next step is to find one item for each that aligns with what you wrote down.”

Chantelle also suggests opting for quality over quantity when gift shopping, especially since time is getting so short. And don’t be afraid to buy loved ones something they won’t necessarily be surprised by if you know they’ll like it, because that’s the most important thing, after all.

“Don’t overwhelm yourself with choice,” she says. “Be decisive and remember that you will most likely get the gift right. As gifters, we often desire the element of surprise and want to steer away from items they have hinted towards. But your best bet is to act on this knowledge, guaranteeing a happy recipient.

“It is easy to overthink things but if they have asked for something specific, the most thoughtful thing you can do is to listen and buy it for them. Lack of surprise doesn’t mean lack of excitement and appreciation!”

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