Christmas hamper fans who are considering buying the items for loved ones during the festive period have just 144 days to go before December 25th.

A new survey conducted by Retail Eyes revealed 16 per cent of people have confessed to already starting their Christmas shopping.

Of those who admitted to getting started on their festive buying, 75 per cent were women.

Selfridges will start selling Christmas stock today (August 2nd) and marketing manger of Retail Eyes Simon Boydell said he can understand why certain shops want to do this, especially large chain stores that tend to attract plenty of overseas visitors.

However, he explained there is the risk shoppers will get fed up of Yuletide displays.

Selfridges recently stated it sold more than 1,000 baubles last year, after it opened its Christmas shop on August 8th.

Buying manager for the retail outlet Geraldine James predicted there will be a time when the store offers festive goods throughout the whole year.