My shopping list was short. All I needed was a small tin of lip salve. I crossed the urban motorway that lay between the conference hotel and the mall and headed first for LIDL.

Although there were many customers inside the supermarket, they were held back from the aisles by a long rope. It was only 07:00, and they would not be released into the store until 09:30. The crowd of customers grew by the minute as news spread of the bargains on offer. An Australian women told me that she was very happy to wait another two and a half hours if it meant that she could secure the electric coal-effect fire for £9.99. I didn’t see any sense in keeping the customers waiting when they all seemed so keen to spend.

I gave up on LIDL and wandered off to John Lewis. One of the perfume counters would sell what I needed. However, before I reached them I was dragged away by a young man who asked my advice on shirts and tweed jackets. The big question was whether it was worth paying extra for a long length shirt. My response hung on whether or not he felt the cold. “There’s more to tuck in if you choose the longer length”, I explained.

The next distraction comprised a set of television screens. These played an endless loop of hypnotic Christmas shopping adverts to John Lewis customers. Anyone who started to watch them found it impossible to drag themselves away. “That won’t push up sales”, I thought – still without any lip salve.