High Street chains face Christmas shortages of toys, clothing, electrical goods and furniture after the severe weather closed a number of the UK's largest ports.
The snow has already hit sales on High Street, with both John Lewis and JJB Sports warning of a slowdown. Maureen Hinton, an analyst at Verdict Research, said that chains were "in danger of losing much needed sales as the snow keeps shoppers indoors", reported The Telegraph.
Container ships were on Wednesday unable to unload at London Thamesport in Kent, while both container terminals at Tilbury Docks on the Thames were shut due to the snowy weather. The closures meant that container vessels from Asia were unable to unload goods.
Although retailers have already taken shipment of most of their seasonal products, the disruption could lead to severe delays in last-minute replenishments.
Although Felixstowe, the UK's largest container port, was open, logistics experts predicted that the backlog in other ports could take weeks to clear. The Port of Southampton was open, but it is understood that its container port experienced disruption because of the snow. Port operators hoped to have the ports open today.
Grant Liddell, a director at Uniserve Group, a large logistics company, said: "This is severe."
Uniserve is helping retailers to use rail, rather than road networks to take delivery of any goods that are making it into the UK.
Retailers are already feeling the strain. Nat Wakely, a director at John Lewis, said sales over the week so far were level with last year: "The snow has impacted both footfall and sales."
Verdict's Ms Hinton said: "Typically our transport infrastructure is breaking down and consumers would rather stay at home than risk being stranded in the cold."
The snow has already hit sales on High Street, with both John Lewis and JJB Sports warning of a slowdown. Maureen Hinton, an analyst at Verdict Research, said that chains were "in danger of losing much needed sales as the snow keeps shoppers indoors", reported The Telegraph.
Container ships were on Wednesday unable to unload at London Thamesport in Kent, while both container terminals at Tilbury Docks on the Thames were shut due to the snowy weather. The closures meant that container vessels from Asia were unable to unload goods.
Although retailers have already taken shipment of most of their seasonal products, the disruption could lead to severe delays in last-minute replenishments.
Although Felixstowe, the UK's largest container port, was open, logistics experts predicted that the backlog in other ports could take weeks to clear. The Port of Southampton was open, but it is understood that its container port experienced disruption because of the snow. Port operators hoped to have the ports open today.
Grant Liddell, a director at Uniserve Group, a large logistics company, said: "This is severe."
Uniserve is helping retailers to use rail, rather than road networks to take delivery of any goods that are making it into the UK.
Retailers are already feeling the strain. Nat Wakely, a director at John Lewis, said sales over the week so far were level with last year: "The snow has impacted both footfall and sales."
Verdict's Ms Hinton said: "Typically our transport infrastructure is breaking down and consumers would rather stay at home than risk being stranded in the cold."