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SHOPPING - ONLINE VS THE HIGH STREET

WE INVESTIGATE THE BENEFITS OF CHRISTMAS SHOPPING IN CYBERSPACE

Sophie Wilmot and Tamsin Vickers

Welcome to the new age. All your shopping is simply a click away. Thanks to the wonderful creation of online shopping you can now hunt through the collections of your favourite stores from the comfort of your own home.

If it’s perfumes or aftershaves you want, then you can save pounds if you order online. For example, Armani White perfume 50ml is £35 across all high street names, but online you can get it for almost £10 less using extrascents.com. If books, DVDs and CDs are on your list, then try amazon.co.uk for amazing price-busters – ordering goodies over £15 entitles you to free delivery on your purchase. Shrek 3 is only £11.98 when its retail price is £19.99, plus, top title albums can be bought from as little as £8.49. Play.com is just as good for cheap deals.

So, for the busy lifestyles of us students, online shopping is an ideal option to grab some awesome bargains, especially if you’re familiar with the likes of eBay and Amazon. But could it be that we are becoming a generation of lazy, reclusive beings?

High street shopping is a whole different story. Despite having to put up with the hustle and bustle, whatever you end up buying is (more often than not) guaranteed to be what you want. But as we all know there are always those sneaky, unnecessary items that manage to find their way into our baskets. Although there is often more available stock online you always run the risk of your items not being delivered on time, or indeed at all! And there are still bargains to be had on the high street: Boots have got a half-price offer on selected fragrances, plus gorgeous gift sets ranging from perfume to body care from £5 and up. Likewise, Superdrug have some lovely gift sets all on a 3 for 2 offer. Entertainment wise, HMV have some good offers on in store at the moment: 3 DVDs for £20 or some top-rated titles for £12.95, plus you can use your student discount.

Online shopping is a far more convenient method to avoid certain shopping trips. Take food shopping for example, why push that hefty, overloaded trolley around when you can have your groceries delivered straight to your door? Tesco Direct online allows you to make purchases that can either be delivered to your store or your own home, whether it be for your Christmas food shopping, clothing or entertainment. There’s free delivery for orders over £50 or more and 20% off on clothing, jewellery and brand toys.

If like us, you go into hibernation as soon as the winter weather hits town, online shopping could be the perfect solution.

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