The Christmas Rush

If you haven’t started your Christmas shopping yet, you better get too it as your shopping days are numbered. With the impending VAT rise and recent budgetary announcements, you could be forgiven for leaving it to the last minute, being a little worried about what the future might hold. However, you are in the minority.

This Christmas looks set to be a bumper year. Spending is sky high, with demand for electronic goods particularly strong. Although the actual values vary greatly depending on where you get your figures from and what precise stats have been considered, the same pattern emerges, one of increased spending. However, other surveys show that Britons are planning on cutting back spending this year after learning lessons from previous years of spending beyond their means. So what is going on?

Although the amount we are spending on Christmas in 2010 is higher than in 2009, we are shopping a lot more carefully. More people are making their own Christmas cards for example and food and booze is likely to be less extravagant compared to pre-recession Christmases. Whether you plan to spend more or less, you are probably more likely to spend it online.

Almost every survey agrees that more consumers will be hitting the virtual not the real, high street this Christmas. According to IMRG, consumers are expected to spend £12.4 billion online this Christmas. This boost in online sales is as a direct result of more people choosing to buy online not o the high street. According to the retail group, almost 27% of adults surveyed plan to do more shopping online this year than they did in 2009.

So why is everyone switching to the online world? The answer is three-pronged. Firstly, price, secondly choice and thirdly, convenience.

Online retails have lower overheads, they can sell direct and they can shift products in bulk, all of which lower retail prices.

Seeing as you can keyword search through thousands of websites in a few seconds to find what you are looking for definitely equates to increased choice. But you can also peruse one website that sells more things than Selfridges and House of Frasier combined.

Finally, you can sit at home with a cup of tea safe from the snow and freezing temperatures and peruse and choose at your leisure. No parking fees, busy shops and overcrowded streets.

Check out Not on the High Street for a huge range of top-quality Christmas gifts at a range of prices.