Wendy Schollum: Xmas shopping in Cyberspace

With Christmas trees sprouting up all over town and Santas of all shapes and sizes trying to coax us into retail stores, you'd think I wouldn't be all that shocked when I realised that we are now in December.  However, as is the case with many busy people, I am yet to spend even a moment considering what to get the wide array of people I have to buy for this year - and the clock is now ticking. 

 

To make Christmas shopping all the more fun, I shudder as I recall the three curses of Christmas:

1. 
   The husband who transforms into a two year old when kept in a store for too long (especially fun if you also have to deal with an actual two year old).  He disappears to play with something that's distracted him (so you spend 2 hours just trying to locate him), repetitively asks how much longer till he can have the ice-cream (or beer) you bribed him with and inevitably, the outing ends in a tantrum where he sprints for the door with your credit card yelling "you can't shop without money!"
2. 
   Then there's the rigmarole of trying to find a car park, when everyone else realises they've left their shopping to the last minute too, and all descend upon town at the same time.  Not to mention the queues at checkouts and the kindly old ladies who cut in line and use impending senility as their excuse.
3. 
   Finally, there's the inability to find the gift that has been requested and the trek through five different stores before you finally find out that everyone is completely out of stock!

So, to help you avoid the aforementioned curses of Christmas, I have compiled a list of my favorite online stores that cater for everyone from your lemon-sucking-mother-in-law to your sixteen-year-old-mumbler.

The Christmas Salvation list:

• 
  www.myworld.co.nz - prints your photos onto the canvas size of your choice.
• 
  www.theperfectgift.co.nz - everything from kitchenware to magazine subscriptions.
• 
  www.missionestate.co.nz and www.sacredhill.co.nz - wines for everyone's taste.
• 
  www.thewoolcompany.co.nz - NZ made men's and women's merino knitwear.
• 
  www.mightyape.co.nz - PC, Playstation, Xbox and Nintendo games.
• 
  www.weleda.co.nz - health and beauty products, inspired by nature and holistic science.
• 
  www.1-day.co.nz - the 24 hour online sale shop, ideal for the more frugal of us.
• 
  www.babybuds.co.nz - Mother and baby products delivered in beautiful boxes and bouquets.

I hope the above list will help you to avoid the three curses of Christmas and actually enjoy your Christmas shopping, as you do it from the comfort of your office or home.

Wendy Schollum is a web strategist and managing director of Xplore - your web agency (www.xplore.net).  For more information on e-retailing, follow Xplore on Twitter (www.twitter.com/xploreNET), join Xplore on Facebook (www.facebook.com/xploreNET), add Xplore to one of your Google+ circles (http://gplus.to/xploreNET) or call 0800 100 900.