Mark Evans

I Will Never Buy Christmas Gifts Again

…..at a bricks and mortar store.

Call it an epiphany or just a harsh realization that physically shopping for Christmas/holiday presents is for suckers. It’s a mind-numbing, frustrating and painful experience at the best of times as you frantically search for the “perfect” gift at the exact time as everyone else is looking for the perfect gift.

Case in point: I ruined a stress-free holiday season by visiting the Chapters book store near my office. After wandering around for 30 minutes, I finally find a CD for my wife (aka el jeffa) - perhaps not the perfect gift but definitely solid. But when I go to pay for it, there are 25 other people trying to do business with two cashiers.

Boom. CD hits the nearest display, and I’m outta there. If I ever shop again at Chapters, it will be online.

The bizarre part about Christmas shopping is lots of people enjoy it. Although it’s a lot of work, it must be the thrill of the hunt or perhaps the notion that you’re showing someone how much you care by buying them a great gift. In theory, it’s a nice, romantic idea but you can accomplish the same thing by going online.

Update: According to comScore, holiday e-commerce spending in the U.S. from Nov. 1 to Dec. 18 was $25-billion, 19% higher than the entire holiday spend last year. Here’s an interesting chart showing spending overall and on particular days.

More: David Utter has some thoughts on the market’s growth.

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