Due to the problems I experienced in December with our living arrangements and then Jenson being ill, I didn’t really have chance to get out to the shops to get my Christmas shopping done. I usually enjoy browsing the shops and getting ideas for presents, and making the odd purchase here and there. Oh and maybe a nice yummy Christmas hot drink special in a coffee shop just to add to the festiveness! I have always made some on line Christmas gift purchases as well as visiting and purchasing from high street stores in person, but its is usually a mix of the two.
However, Christmas 2011, I ended up getting just about all of my gifts on line and I have to say that on the whole all of my orders were received on time despite some of them being ordered very last minute. What I have realised is that I actually bought a lot of my Christmas shopping from independent shops on the internet rather than large retail stores which I am so happy about. Ok, so I may not have helped out my immediate local economy BUT I did help out small independent business and they actually offered me some brilliant customer service in return. In fact all of my orders from these companies were on time and not late, despite ordering up until 20th December!
I thought I would share the top shops I visited online, in case you are looking for something a little bit different to whats on offer on the high street, and would like to support some independent businesses.
I actually heard about this great shop via TheBoyandMe as she her boy has reviewed several of their great products. I ordered the following products
and they are fab – and they are all made in the UK! The feel and quality of each item is superb. Burton LOVES the shopping list game at the moment – we are playing it several times a day and the giant road puzzle really sparks his imaginative play (and daddy likes helping out with this jigsaw too!)
Delivery was fast and on time and is free when you spend over £15. I will definitely be visiting this website again – I have already promised Burton that we will get the add ons for the Shopping List game!
Again it was from visiting TheBoyandMe that I discovered this on line shop too. They sell some beautiful wooden toys and again the quality is just fantastic. Some of the lovely toys I bought included
Again, I have already seen some ideas for Jenson’s birthday so I will be popping back here again too and their delivery service was exactly as they stated too.
This website contains so many fabulous gifts and many of them can be personalised which I think always adds a nice touch for someone special. This on line store brings together several small businesses and again the customer service was top notch and if something couldn’t be delivered in time for Christmas, this was stated very clearly by the product description.
Among the gifts I bought, including personalised candles and chocolate bars and a shopper bag I bought this for Burton which he loved and wanted to try on as soon as he opened it
Having been let down by one of Groupon’s deals and one of their suppliers, we had to think of a last minute main Christmas present for Burton. We decided on a wooden train track and although I could have ordered it from Amazon I chose the Wooden Toyshop instead as they sell some beautiful wooden toys (take a look) and I just managed to get my order in before they closed their guaranteed Christmas delivery deadline! Burton loves his Brio train set 🙂
*I also had a fab service from the following companies*
When I Was A Kid – bought a name train and it arrived the next day as promised
Photobox – I know this is not a small independent business but they delivered on time and my photo gifts were excellent quality
Thank you xx
Love Orchard Toys and PhotoBox.
Some new names for me to check out – great to get some personal recommendations. 🙂
We love Orchard Toys too, they come highly recommened and our cupboard is now bursting with jigsaws and games!!
Ahh So that’s where the train tracks come from, it looks really good and looks a lot of fun. Love Burtons apron, such a good idea for a prezzy too!
Glad to see that the hot water disaster did not get in the way of the boys being spoilt! (I have 2 boxes of G’s toys hidden as she just got so much!) It looked like you had a great Xmas and I like the fact that you chose small companies, always worth “helping” when we can. Not on the High Street is genius, isn’t it?
I’m aware of all of these shops but have to admit I haven’t looked at all of them. Definitely will after this post.
Not on The High Street is dangerous for me. I always spend a minimum of 2 hours on there because of all the fabulous things they sell.
I love the apron!
Thanks for a great idea for future presents- it is always good to get unbiased feedback. I have to admit to being Photobox’s biggest fan- they are amazing and their customer service is brilliant as well! x
Ah – this is brilliant for future reference – thank you! My first stop is (almost) always Amazon. Going to check these out soon 🙂 x
I too am a huge fan of photobox and we brought the Orchard Toys Shopping list for Poppy. Great ideas and always helpful to see what other parents and children like x
Thanks for the mention lovely! I’m so glad that they were able to provide the boys’ presents.