With Christmas around the corner, many of us are busy buying presents for our loved ones. It is a very special time of year as most of us enjoy shopping very much.

It is not a secret that with the popularity of the Internet many of us prefer to shop from the convenience of our own homes rather than shop in stores. I have to say that I don’t blame anybody for choosing online shopping over offline shopping as it can be so much more convenient to sit in front of your PC and order whatever you want.

In the UK, the number of online shoppers have been growing rapidly over the last couple of years. In a very interesting survey I had a chance to look at www.broadbandgenie.co.uk, 46% people responded that they would shop online before Christmas while 54% of respondents choose to shop in brick and mortar stores. What is interesting is also the fact that women are more likely to shop online rather than men.

It is also pretty obvious that younger people are more likely to shop online than older people are and it turns out that 50% of those between 35-54 years of age will turn to online shopping this December. When it comes to those above 55 only 37% of them will sit in front of their computers to look for the products to buy.

Another interesting piece of information I was able to find is that the residents of Northern Ireland are more likely to shop online this year. Over 52% choose to shop on the Internet as opposed to around 45% in the rest of the country (England, Wales and Scotland).

And what about you? Are you going to hit the road and drive to some nearby stores, or are you going to sit comfortably in front of your PC browsing comfortably the large selection of items available on the Internet?