Advantages of Online Shopping at Christmas Time

Christmas is just 18 days away and there are only three more weekends to complete that Christmas shopping. Although at this time of year, shopping online is definitely preferential to visiting the malls.

No crowds

As pretty as they look all decked out with their festive decorations, I much prefer to avoid the crowds. Of course, visiting a store or two is a necessity at this time of year, but if I can skip it is as much as possible then all the better.

No Christmas carols

As much as I like to hear the odd Christmas carol, I don’t want to hear them all the time. There is nothing worse than listening to 3 hours of carols only to find that they are stuck in your head, and you cannot get to sleep without humming Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer to lull you to sleep.

No holiday traffic

Online shopping means no traffic jams. As everyone is heading in the direction of the nearest mall or store, I like to go in the opposite direction, away from the gridlocked traffic. I’m all about the peace and quiet at the end of a busy year.

No long checkout queues

You have spent an hour or two picking out the right gift only to find that the checkout is a mile long. Online shopping allows you to view it up close and personal via the images without the queue. Sounds great, doesn’t it?

You can compare prices

You can quickly compare prices when you are shopping online. This is a great way to enable you to save money. Comparing prices at a mall may mean walking from one end to the other and back again, and with all that foot traffic, well let’s just say you want to avoid that as much as possible.

Shop at your convenience

If you want to shop at 3 am in the comfort of your pajamas, then you can. You don’t have to wait until the store opens; you can do it 24/7 at your convenience. And you can do it while sipping a cup of coffee and munching on chocolate. Nothing beats it!

If you are ordering online, then it is best to order earlier rather than later as you want your gifts to arrive in plenty of time. There is nothing worse than ordering something and then finding out it is not going to get there until after the big day! So if you want to order, shop today or tomorrow or as soon as you can. 

All I Want For Christmas...

The Christmas orders have started to come in – both the corporate and the regular gift orders and it is such a fun time for us. And busy – did we mention busy. Here are some other meanings that we connect with this colourful time of year.

C is for Chocolate

And we have lots of it. From hot chocolate hampers to delicious hampers filled with just chocolate, you can definitely cater for all those sweet tooths in your life with our extensive array of chocolate gifts. One of the best things is that we also offer lots of new products around Christmas time to add some variety to your gift giving. So, keep checking back regularly for more ideas.

H is for Hampers

But we don’t just have chocolate hampers. We have wine hampers, cooking hampers, lolly hampers, coffee hampers and more. The variety of our gifts is what makes browsing our gifts so fun. Beer hampers, scotch hampers, port hampers, non-alcoholic hampers – the most challenging thing is deciding on which hamper to buy.

R is for Rosé

Such a lovely drop to consume before and after Christmas. It’s not white, and it’s not red! Rosé is pink in tone, and is great for barbecues and get-togethers. Many of our gift hampers such as our Gourmet Picnic Hamper features a bottle of Rosé and it is ideal for a summertime drop. Especially when it arrives with so many other goodies as well!

I is for Italian food

I love Australia’s multiculturism and the fact that we can enjoy such a variety of food wherever we go. I personally love Italian food and am so glad we have such beautiful gifts in store to represent its culinary influences on our great country. Check out our Italian Homemade Pasta Hamper, Pizza Perfection Hamper and Homemade Pizza Gift Hamper.

S is for Special

This is how our gifts make people feel when they arrive. All of our hampers feature so many wonderful treats that it is hard to contain the glee when they are opened. This is our favourite part of the job – seeing and hearing the reactions when our hampers grace the doorsteps of those all over Australia. We can’t help but feel a bit like the jolly old man himself.

T is for Tea

Christmas is a time for a meetups and what better way to spend it than over a cup of tea. We even have an Afternoon Tea Hamper to honour the early British traditions of afternoon and morning tea. Whether you want to chat with friends and family, there is no better time of year to catch up with those near and dear.

M is for Merry

A merry holiday is guaranteed with many of our champagne, wine and beer hampers. It doesn’t matter whether you are into international beers or cider, or a bottle of red wine or white wine, the choice is yours. Many of our beer and wine gifts also come with a selection of delicious snacks and treat which will ensure they are a guaranteed winner.

A is for Any Time

Online shopping means you can shop any time of the day or night. You can order your Christmas gifts at your convenience, and they can be delivered as close to the 25^th December as possible to ensure they arrive on time. There are no last-minute shopping sprees – you can be as organised as you need to be and find time to relax and hang out with your loved ones.

S is for Sweet

While we do have many savoury gifts, the popular ones tend to be our sweeter gifts. The lolly and chocolate boxes have been shopper favourites ever since we opened our doors all those years ago. Our gifts are still the quirky alternative to flowers, which makes our shoppers come back time and time again. For that, we are incredibly grateful.

Let The Christmas Baking Begin

I confess I am not much of a baker (hmm that might well be an understatement!) but I do love the look of all the yummy recipes which are appearing on my Facebook feed at the moment.  So much so, I might even attempt one or two of them over the Christmas holidays.

I recently posted this Easy Santa Claus Cupcake recipe on our page and it looks like it would be so much fun to make, and a great one to share with the kids.  M&Ms, chocolate chips, coconut, sprinkles and frosting are required to turn the cupcake into Santa.

I also love the look of these Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies which will easily make use of the spare chocolate chips and M&Ms you have leftover from the cupcake recipe

These are made using a peanut butter cookie recipe although this can be adapted if necessary.

And for those who may be baking-challenged like me, these dip sticks look very festive, although in reality you can dip anything from pretzel sticks, mini pretzels, Oreos, wafer cookies, sugar cookies, shortbread or biscotti.  A delicious treat with no baking required.

If however baking is not really for you, then I would recommend popping a tin or two of our delicious fudge on the table as an alternative and watch it disappear.

Fudge seems to be a favourite in every household I come across and these beautiful tins can be used over and over again.  And there is something for everyone - vanilla fudge, chocolate fudge and the ever so delicious rum and raisin.

What are you looking forward to baking or making this Christmas?