Outdoor gifts top wish list

Online searches suggest people are focusing on furniture, barbecues - and iPhones.

People will be heading for the great outdoors to try out their presents this Christmas, if Trade Me searches are any indication.

Four out of the five most-searched Christmas ideas by Aucklanders on the website have an outdoor flavour, with the recent burst of sunny weather turning thoughts to the rest of summer.

Outdoor furniture is Aucklanders' most-searched item, followed by trampolines, tents, barbecues, and iPhones.

The outdoor theme is mirrored nationally, with mountain bikes, golf gear, trampolines, outdoor furniture, barbecues and dogs and puppies all making the top 10 list.

The Christmas rush to shops has been matched online, with more than 700,000 domestic unique browsers visiting the site each day in December.

Shoppers are also fitting in their browsing whenever they have downtime, with Trade Me increasingly sourced from tablet and mobile devices.

"Purchasing expectations are now a case of anything, anytime, anywhere ... the proportion of mobile usage now hovers at around 45 per cent of all site visits," said Trade Me spokesman Paul Ford.

Despite the trend for outdoors gifts, nationally Apple's range of technology products remained the most searched for gifts for the third year running - although some products have fallen out of favour.

"In 2013 it is all about iPhones and iPads, with the iPod Touch slipping down the most coveted list this year," Mr Ford said.

More traditional gifts are also holding their own, with Lego and Star Wars toys and paraphernalia in the top 10.

"Both present a potential buyer with an absolutely humungous range," Mr Ford said.

"On Trade Me there are 4000 new listings for Star Wars paraphernalia and more than 5000 new Lego items up for sale."

PlayStation 4 and go-karts are just outside the top 10 searches, while kayaks, scooters and tents have slipped after making last year's list.