Tuesday 23 December 2008

Christmas Shopping-nightmare on the high street or a breeze online?

Claudia fell through her front door and dropped all her bags on the floor, immediately feeling the relief in her aching shoulders and hands. Her shoes are kicked off and she curses herself for the hundredth time that day for wearing heels to go Christmas shopping. A glance at her watch tells her that shes already late for meeting her sister Sarah for lunch and groans at the thought of going back out in the traffic.

5 minutes later the shopping bags are still taking up room in the middle of the hallway, Claudia has managed a change of clothes but a quick look in the mirror reveals her hair is in need of a brush and her cheeks are red from the after effects of tackling the high street, but as shes already late there's no time to sort herself out and she hurries out of the door.

When Claudia finally reaches the restaurant her sister is sat looking relaxed drinking a coffee and watching with mild amusement at the madness of the Christmas shopping going on around her.

Claudia apologises for being late and launches into a story about getting elbowed in the chest in a clothes shop, having trolleys rammed into her ankles in the supermarket and being hit on the head by an unidentified flying object in a toy store!

Sarah says that she too has done all her Christmas shopping that day. Claudia looks at her with disbelief and asks how she can look so relaxed whereas she looks and feels as though she’s been dragged through a hedge backwards! Sarah smiles and says simply ‘I did all my shopping online, no queues, no crowds or traffic jams, just me in the comfort of my own home, plus you can get fantastic bargains online, I read an article last week that said a YouGov survey estimated that 71% of Britain's will shop online this Christmas’

After lunch Claudia begins to think about what her sister said, and her own small business selling handmade cards and gifts, which were currently being sold in various tanning salons and hairdressers in her village. Her mind again flashes back to the chaos and misery she experienced on the high street and thought about the other shoppers she saw huffing and puffing their way through the shops. If so many people were deciding that online shopping was a better alternative then there was a whole world of opportunity for her to sell her products to.

Excited by this prospect she picks up the phone to discuss it with Sarah, who agrees it’s a fantastic idea. ‘The only problem Ive got is that I just don’t know where on earth to start!’ Claudia moans. ‘Ah’ says Sarah, ‘that’s where I can help, I know of someone who delivers a training course designed specifically to help people like you….’

See what happens next month after Claudia has attended the course and started to put into practice the things that shes learnt

0 comments: