Over three million people will do their Christmas shopping entirely online this year without once visiting an actual shop, a poll has found.

  Overcrowding and long queues in shops are forcing people away from the high street as the hassle of Christmas shopping becomes too much.

  The number of people turning their backs on the high street is almost one million higher than it was last year, according to the poll by YouGov.

  Last Christmas 2.4 million shoppers did not do any of their shopping in actual shops. The figure this year is predicted to be around 3.4 million, equivalent to around 7 percent of the adult population.

  Over a third of people said that the main turn-off about shopping on the high street is over-crowding. Meanwhile almost a quarter said that long queues at the check-out are the worst thing about it.

  Of the 2,065 people polled, even those who are still taking to the shops plan to spend less time in them this Christmas.

  Around 31 percent of shoppers who plan to spend at least some time on the high street will spend less than half of their shopping time in actual shops, using the rest of the time to shop remotely via the internet. This compares to 28 percent of people last year. Meanwhile the proportion of people spending over half of their shopping time in high street shops has dropped from 41 percent last year to 39 percent this year.

  Just two percent of people said that they are looking forward to dealing with store staff this festive season.

  Guy Boxall, senior product marketing manager at Casio Business Solutions Division, which commissioned the research from YouGov, said that despite the fall in people visiting the high street, humans are “social creatures” who actually like spending time together.

  “Although the high street is facing a big challenge Christmas, retailers should see this research as a challenge to improve the in-store shopping experience, rather than the nail in the coffin. We are social creatures, and the desire to spend time with each other, particularly at Christmas, is never going to go away,” said Mr Boxall.

  The poll found that people’s favourite aspects of Christmas shopping on the high street are being able to “wander around” looking for inspiration and being able to see and touch products. People were also keen on being able to carry products home, which is not possible when they order online.

  一项民调发现，今年圣诞，超过300万英国人将在网上采购所有过节物品，一家实体店都不会去。

  每逢圣诞购物季，商店里总是挤满了人，排起长队，不胜其烦的人们被迫放弃去商业街购物。

  根据民调机构YouGov进行的调查，今年选择不在商业街购物的人数比去年高出近100万。

  去年圣诞，有240万购物者没有在实体店买过东西。今年，这一数字预计将达到340万左右，约占英国成年人总数的7%。

  超过三分之一的人称让人对逛商业街兴趣大减的主要原因就是人群拥挤。同时，近四分之一的人认为最糟糕的就是结账处队伍排起长龙。

  在2065名被调查者中，就连那些仍喜欢去实体店购物的人也计划今年圣诞不会花太多时间逛商店。

  约31%的购物者计划多少也要去商业街逛一逛，不过他们只打算花不到一半时间去实体店购物，余下的时间用于网购。而去年持同样想法的购物者比例为28%。与此同时，把一半以上的购物时间用于逛商业街的消费者比例从去年的41%降到今年的39%。

  仅有2%的人表示，希望在这个圣诞季去商店购物。

  卡西欧业务方案部产品营销高级经理盖伊·波克索尔委托YouGov进行了此次调查。他表示，尽管去商业街购物的人数量锐减，但人类毕竟是“社会动物”，还是喜欢在一起消磨时间。

  波克索尔说道：“尽管商业街面临一次圣诞大挑战，但零售商们应将这一调查结果视为一次挑战，借以提升消费者的店内购物体验，而不是把调查结果看成致命打击。要知道我们是社会性动物，渴望在一起共度时光，尤其是在圣诞节，这份渴望永远都不会减退。”

  民调发现人们喜欢去商业街购物的主要原因是，通过“逛一逛”寻求鼓舞或者亲眼见见、亲手摸摸产品。人们也喜欢把产品带回家的感觉，而这种感觉是网上购物所体验不到的。