Christmas is just three months away and so supermarkets have been making moves to get shoppers well-prepared to do their festive shopping. Supermarkets shared their festive opening hours to customers earlier this month, and now Tescos, Ocado, and Marks and Spencer have announced their slots for those planning on getting their Christmas dinner prepared in advance or ingredients delievered.
The three supermarkets are the first to offer customers the chance to get their Christmas deliveries sorted with slots being open from as early as September 23. Marks and Spencer's service allows shoppers to get their dinner prepared and then collected in time for Christmas.
M&S customers can already begin placing their festive food orders as the Christmas Food to Order Service opened on September 23.
The service allows shoppers to reserve and pay for their Christmas dinner and other holiday foods in advance and then collect them between December 22 and 24.
Shoppers must pay a £50 deposit for the food, and then pay the outstanding balance upon collection.
Ocado also opened slots on September 23 for its Smart Pass members. The retailer's Smart Pass is a paid-for subscription that offers its members free delivery, discounts, exclusive offers, free samples, and gifts.
While Smart Pass customers receive early access to the Christmas delivery slots, it doesn't guarantee you one, according to Which?.
Additionally, the free delivery perk is not covered from December 20-24. Active Anytime Smart Pass members will receive one free delivery voucher, which will be sent to their email address.
To keep the free delievery you must have an active Smart Pass membership on the day your Christmas shop is delivered. For deliveries during the Christmas week (December 20-24) you will need to have a minimum supermarket spend of £90.
Tesco's Christmas delivery slots will open on November 4 at 6 am for customers signed up to an Anytime Delivery Saver or Click-and-Collect plan.
Christmas delivery slots will open a week later on November 11 and 6 am for all other shoppers, including those with the Off-peak Delivery Saver plan.
The Delivery Saver plan is a subscription-based service with various plans that run for six to 12 months. Once subscribed, customers can get delivery or Click+Collect with no extra charges for booking slots. Normal minimum basket charges apply.
You will need to sign up to Tesco's Any Time delivery service by November 3 if you want to get the early slots.