Web wins out in Christmas battle

Published on Saturday 15 December 2007 19:22

SANTA might be better off ditching his sleigh, sacking the elves and ordering his presents online.

With just a handful of shopping days to Christmas, Scotland on Sunday investigated whether internet shopping still delivers the best bargains or if you should head out and investigate high-street promises of half-price deals.

In our test, online shopping proved a clear winner, particularly if you are planning to pick up big-ticket electronics this Christmas.

Our bargain hunters priced gifts for a family of four with the bill for the high street coming in at 873.11. The same dozen items ordered online came to 813.80 including delivery – a saving of 59.31, or almost 7%.

We found the biggest online savings were on electrical items, with the PlayStation 3 games console and GPS sat-nav device both selling for 30 cheaper online than in the stores.

The Sony MP3 Player was also 10 cheaper online.

Books are also better value online, with the best-selling Maw Broon's Cookbook and The Raw Shark Texts being considerably cheaper than in stores.

But when it comes to alcohol the supermarkets win out, with Somerfield offering Glenfiddich Special Reserve for just 19.99 – cheaper than anywhere online.

Our online search for the best bargains took a little over one hour. The other advantages of cyber-shopping are obvious: no crowds, no blaring Christmas music, no parking hassles and no bags.

That said, our online shopping experience lacked a certain Christmas atmosphere, and delivery to your home can be a problem.

Online retailers might well deliver your presents in time for Christmas if you order in the next two days, but there is always the risk you will not be in when the postman or courier calls. And racing against time to make it to a sorting depot before it closes is far from stress-free.

Shopping the traditional way may be tiring, but in Glasgow city centre yesterday there was bags of atmosphere – with everything from the Salvation Army band belting out carols to bagpipers, bongo players and Oasis-singing buskers playing less traditional tunes.

Although many stores were crowded, shop assistants offered expert advice and bargain-hunting tips that are just not available online.

Afterwards you can relax with a glass of mulled wine from the German street market knowing that Christmas is literally in the bag.

If you take public transport or walk to the shops you can also feel you have done your bit for the environment – as online deliveries are often driven long distances and arrive with an abundance of packaging.

Fiona Moriarty, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, insisted that shoppers would never completely abandon traditional shopping.

She said: "I think there are a number of factors for the difference in price. Online retailers don't have as many of the overheads as high-street shops, for example. But I think it's clear that the high street is still very competitive on a number of items.

"Shops will not become redundant any time soon. There are many of us who enjoy the shopping experience, and there is the issue of being able to see and try on products like clothes.

"At this time of year, retailers make a real effort to make the Christmas shopping experience as festive as possible. There is a real atmosphere that you can't get sitting at a computer."

High-street stores are promising a "half-price Christmas" in a desperate drive to tempt shoppers to spend, with festive sales starting earlier than ever.

According to Footfall, which measures shopper numbers, the situation is getting worse every day. Shopper levels were down by 4% last Wednesday compared to the equivalent day last year.

According to Forrester Research, more than 13.8bn will be spent online by the UK's 27 million internet shoppers this festive season.

In the past year, internet store Amazon.com added sports and leisure, jewellery and watches, shoes and baby products to the books and CDs that it has traditionally sold.

Research by Deloitte suggests that 44% of people will buy at least one present over the internet. Tarlok Teji, head of retail for Deloitte, said that consumers had not been put off by the horror stories of last year, when 500,000 presents ordered before Christmas arrived too late. "Certainly this year we've noticed that retailers are better geared up to make it happen," he said.

Men are more likely to shop online than women, with 48% saying that they would use the internet for presents. More than half of 16 to 44-year-olds would buy gifts online, compared with 15% of pensioners.