Because geek is cool and clever

Avoiding the madness of Christmas shopping December 3, 2007

Another Christmas is upon us and this year I’ve managed to do the vast majority of my shopping online.

Quite why anybody would want to battle their way through crowds of hyped-up shoppers in a drizzle-drenched high street is beyond me.

These days, with the exception of groceries, I turn to the web for just about all my shopping needs. Not only do online shops have a substantially greater range than their bricks and mortar counterparts, if they even exist at all, they are really starting to get their delivery times down and more reliable.

It’s rare that we actually require something instantly, so a wait of a couple of days in normally a reasonable trade off for the inconvenience of traffic queues and overpriced car parking or public transport. I would even be prepared to pay a small premium for such convenience but online products are almost always cheaper, even after postage is added.

The world’s best known online shop, Amazon, has just come out with a new service called Amazon Prime.

For £49 per year you can order anything and have its delivery guaranteed the next day for no extra charge. The company is even promising same day deliveries for London and Birmingham addresses, with other large metropolitan areas bound to follow if the service is a success.

If you buy anywhere near as much stuff from Amazon as I do, this is ultimately a money saver and a great way to hasten the delivery of your orders.

Of course, speedy and cheap delivery is all very well and good but if Mr. Postman or Ms. Courier knocks on your door in the middle of the day when you’re out earning the money to make all these purchases, the convenience of a home delivery is turned on its head by the dreaded ‘Sorry, you were out’ note, resulting in either a drive around an industrial estate trying to find a non-existent delivery outlet or standing in line with a hundred pensioners and ladies with prams at the local post office.

These missed deliveries remain a big problem. Various ideas to combat them have been suggested ranging from delivery to a nearby supermarket ready for pick up on the way home from work to padlocked boxes by the front door or delivery to your work address. Unfortunately each of these solutions has a downside.

Even with this potential shortcoming I’m still happy to take my chances.

Anything beats traipsing around the shops.