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Santa Claus is coming to town - but will he be coming via the high street?

10 December 2008

The timely arrival of Santa Claus, pulling up on the snow-dusted roof and squeezing his pie-filled body down the chimney with a sack full of toys, is quite possibly the single most magical miracle a child should experience. For parents, well, Santa Claus usually means overtime at the office, desperate Christmas Eve raids on the credit card, borderline-psychotic searches for that last Tracy Island and nightmares of the evil credit crunch monster… not to mention a spot of dressing up in case the kids catch glimpse of who's really filling up their bedside stocking. Ok, it's not all bad – there are mincepies, whiskey and Mrs Santa – but, generally speaking, the search for Christmas gifts is not exactly stress-free.

Back in the day, a child would be content to receive Christmas gifts of, say, a satsuma or a cardboard box. Or a satsuma in a cardboard box. Indeed, many an hour could be spent in a cardboard box with a little imagination. Nowadays, the needs of our children are far more sophisticated. One might contend, a little too sophisticated! The art of finding Christmas gifts is no longer about discovering something useful or that which has meaning – it is all about bigger and better. No, it is about biggest and best. This is the unfortunate aspect of our 'capitalistic' children or, for that matter, those old enough to know better.

Thus, the real question of Christmas is all about how to find and afford those Christmas gifts which are not desired but absolutely required. Actually, we can substitute 'afford' with 'acquire', as financial reach in a world swimming in credit is not exactly an issue worth worrying about. So, the question is where and how will those Christmas gifts be acquired? There are really only two options: on the high street or online.

Since the dawn of the internet, the experience of shopping for Christmas gifts has evolved considerably. Once upon a time, shoppers would queue far and wide for hours on end to buy Santa's most requested Christmas gifts. Actually, this still happens – despite the facility to pre-order new goods – and is probably just another illogical human condition. Nevertheless, the festive period gobbles up this trait and spits out a whole different phenomenon altogether. Remember the craze for Tracy Island? Or Buzz Lightyear? Or Teletubbies? Or Robosapien? Were you one of the masses standing in line, out in the cold, buoyed only by the nagging love of your children? Are you ready to do it all over again?

The good news is that you do not have to – shopping for Christmas gifts on the high street is not the beast it once was. Although, quite conceivably, the aforementioned credit crunch monster is largely responsible for this. Gone, for now, are the days of crazed shoppers beating down shop doors in pursuit of a whinge-free Christmas. Instead, high streets tend to experience manageable hordes with more reasonable expectations. The reason? Because of the internet!

While Santa Claus is probably old-school enough to buy his Christmas gifts via the high street, those swept up in the age of e-commerce will find everything that exists on the high street just a few clicks away online. No queues. No standing in the cold. No Christmas Eve panic.

In fact, buying Christmas gifts online is now the preferred method. Not only can shoppers travel from one shop to the next in seconds, they have the power to research the products, prices and websites before taking those Christmas gifts in the basket through the simple checkout process. Furthermore, with the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 Act and the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002, customers have been afforded a high standard of consumer protection that is so important in these faceless transactions. Spending on credit cards has never quite as safe or flexible.

Furthermore, prices online are competitive. While the high street will always offer festive sales – especially in the current financial climate as attempts are made to get people spending – online stores have lower overheads and can usually offer excellent prices and convenient delivery times. Christmas gifts can be bought online at the best prices and tried, tested and wrapped up long before the queues start forming on the high street.

Moreover, the variety of options for purchasing Christmas gifts online trumps those on the high street. For instance, if festive shoppers want truly personalised gifts, imagine the hassle of finding a bricks and mortar shop, ordering the gift with the design included, then having to wait or return at a later date before purchase. Online, you can just fill in some details, pop in the basket and checkout. But will Santa take heed?



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