Evert Rööpson, business customer manager at state-owned postal delivery service Omniva told AK that there is no guarantee from hereon in that all international parcels will arrive before Christmas – which in Estonia as in much of northern Europe is primarily celebrated on December 24.

Rööpson said: "If we are talking about international e-shops such as AliExpress, it is no longer be recommended to choose free delivery. /.../ If you have the choice, you should definitely opt for AliExpress's standard shipping , as there is still a good chance that the package will arrive before Christmas."

Tõnu Väät, chief of the e-commerce association, said that in any case ordering on-line has become a preferred option, adding that customers should look out for two potential pitfalls.

"You might want to look at an e-store which also has physical stores. If it has these, it actually has that item. That could be one suggestion. And the other is to make sure that the goods are displayed online as being in stock," Väät told AK.

Christmas purchases lead to around a 50 percent surge in sales each year, often at the last minute, which can also cause angst given the long wait lines in stores and at post offices alike.

Maris Kivi, head of online store Hansapost's marketing department, said that: "A week before Christmas, there are certainly a lot of people here who are already queuing up and want to get their package, but there are definitely those who buy items on the spot."

Tõnu Väät agreed that it was likely too late to expect deliveries in time for Christmas from outside of the EU, particularly from further afield, while time is also of the essence for deliveries from inside the union.

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