Two days away from Christmas, parents up and down the country are rushing to get their hands on Disney Princess dolls, Transformers and Leapfrogs.
Not that they need to, because as we all know (wink, wink) Father Christmas is the one busy making toys and packing them away.
But let’s face it, there are only so many smiling princesses that Santa’s cheery elves can build without them becoming grumpy. So instead, parents have to roll up their sleeves.
Times of Malta visited shops, trying to gauge the toy story situation. Two of the most popular gifts this year – robotic Transformers and Disney’s Princess Elsa from Frozen – were mostly out of stock by mid-December.
One shop assistant, who tried to help out because the doll, costing €69.95, was out of stock at the outlet, presented another version of the princess doll, which sings “Let it go” when you press a button on its tummy.
“The good thing about this is that at €49.99, it’s cheaper,” the assistant chirpily said. Given that even the movie director of Frozen has apologised to parents whose children became obsessed with the song, we shook our heads and let the dolly go.
I barely set foot in the shops and by October I have all my Christmas shopping ready
Organised parents start planning their gift list in October. By December they will have done most of the purchases, which explains the empty shelves.
“I try and buy presents over the months, so I don’t panic come December,” Faye Camilleri, a mother of two, said.
She buys all her gifts online because she “cannot stand the crowds”. Also, purchasing online gives her the opportunity to compare prices without having to drive from one shop to the next.
“It is more convenient to browse retailers from the comfort of your home, creating online wish lists, so I am kept informed of availability and bargains,” she said.
And bargains there are. Times of Malta found out that while a Disney Frozen Princess Elsa Doll will set you back €69.99 from the shops, it costs €30.89 from Amazon, including postage and VAT.
Veteran online shopper Joanne Borg told Times of Malta that this October she bought Lego games from an online store and even after adding up postage costs, it was still about €30 cheaper than toy shops in Malta. “Same thing with Leapfrog items – they were about €15 cheaper, even when delivery fees were factored in,” she said.
Ms Borg buys all her presents online, be it electronics, books, clothes or even kitchen items. “I barely set foot in the shops and by October I have all my Christmas shopping ready.”
Although an increasing trend, online shopping is still not the norm in Malta. Physical purchase of gifts is still preferred, compared to virtual shopping.
Mother of three Rosalie Zarb said: “I need to see the items in my hand, to be sure I got the right thing, so I would never buy presents online.”
A Christmas shopping survey carried out by EMCS and Deloitte shows that the large majority of the population still prefers to shop around, “be it high street, shopping malls, department stores or markets, when purchasing presents for Christmas”.
Just under 15 per cent said they would be doing all their shopping online, while five per cent indicated a mix between online and in-person outlet visits.
Of course, for those who leave it too late, there’s no choice but to trawl the shops, find whatever is left and pay up.
Either that or pray for Santa to deliver.
Top 10 toys*
• Disney’s Frozen Sparkle Doll
• Transformers
• Minecraft figures
• Lego Benny’s spaceship
• Princess Sofia doll
• Leapfrog
• Flutterby fairy
• How to train your dragon
• Tablet curio
• Ninja Turtles
*According to Maltese toy shops