TORONTO - There's good news for holiday shoppers who have spent previous years waiting in hours-long lineups, making frantic calls to stores, and being extorted by profiteering gadget scalpers while searching for that must-have gift.
It appears there is no Nintendo Wii or Wii Fit, limited supply iPhone, or other tech toys this year that are expected to be overwhelmingly in demand and impossible to find in stores.
The most buzzed about tech product this shopping season may be the Kindle ebook reader, but Amazon says it doesn't expect to run out of stock.
Maybe demand is down because of the recession, or maybe it's the fact that today's massive big-box stores are lined with dozens of rows of gadgets, games, peripherals and electronics, offering endless options for shoppers in virtually every price range.
According to research commissioned by Future Shop, if consumers could choose the thing they'd most like to receive this holiday season, they'd pick a big-screen HDTV.
A new TV is probably too rich for the blood of most shoppers, but Future Shop spokesman Elliott Chun said Canadians have indicated in the past that they're willing to spend several hundred dollars for a cool gift.
The company is expecting that the cheapest version of Sony's Playstation 3, the 120-gigabyte slim model selling for $299, will be one of the hottest items this Christmas, despite its "mid-range" price.
"I don't think people will balk too much at that price point," Chun said, nothing that in a survey last year, Canadians said they were planning to spend about $279 on a high-tech gift, while men specifically were willing to spend a little more, around $340.
Derek Szeto of Redflagdeals.com, a deal-hunting web community with 270,000 members, suggests netbooks may be one of the hottest gift ideas for someone looking to spend a couple hundred dollars or more.
The popularity of the low-cost, low-weight laptop computers has exploded in recent months, especially as models began appearing on store shelves with prices as low $199.
"The price points have gotten sort of ridiculously low, it just makes it really easy for consumers to make it an impulse purchase," Szeto said. "It's almost like if you drop it and break it you can just replace it."
In the sub-$100 price range, FutureShop is expecting video games and Blu-ray movies will be big sellers, especially for households that just recently upgraded to the new video format from DVD.
In particular, special-edition SteelBooks are expected to sell out. SteelBook editions of films come with a metal case and more elaborate packaging design. They sell for about $10 more than a standard Blu-ray release but work well as gifts since they're considered collectibles, Chun said.
Recent legislation in Ontario banning the use of cellphones while driving -- and similar laws in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Quebec -- are also expected to spur sales of hands-free devices like Bluetooth headsets.
Szeto predicted shoppers will still spend a lot of money this year but will look for ways to stretch their dollar.
"I don't think people are necessarily spending less overall, but they're more value conscious, so they're more careful to wait a little longer to see if something is a deal or not, and they're probably willing to trade down at least a little bit," he said.
Research conducted for Wal-Mart Canada backs up that theory, suggesting Canadians have the economy on their minds but don't want to skimp too much on their gift giving. Surveys suggest Wal-Mart customers will be looking to buy products on sale as much as possible, but still plan to spend around the same amount as they did last year.
Unless the loonie suddenly plunges in the coming weeks, cross-border shopping is sure to be popular again this holiday season, with some shoppers tempted to take advantage of lower prices in the U.S.
It doesn't take much time to compare prices online and find some glaring discrepancies, but many electronic items are priced virtually the same on both sides of the border.
For example, the Xbox 360 Elite Holiday Bundle sells for $299 in Canada and the U.S., which hardly makes a shopping roadtrip worthwhile.
Wishabi.ca is a good resource for finding out how much you might save by buying through a U.S. store, by comparing retail prices and factoring in currency conversion, as well as shipping and handling and duties.
Online shopping is also bound to be popular this year as more and more online retailers are offering free shipping. Best Buy, Future Shop, Chapters/Indigo and Amazon.ca have all set $39 as the threshold to receive free shipping.
There's little point in waiting until the last days before Christmas to snag any last-second deals, Szeto said, and even Boxing Week prices can be had in some cases without waiting.
"Even in mid-November there were sales of 30 per cent off basically everything across the store, which is actually pretty aggressive, so we think if the offers are right, consumers shouldn't hesitate to shop earlier this year," he said.
