What’s hot on Christmas lists this year

So December is finally here, and we’ve passed our Click Frenzy, New Zealand’s Click Monday and into the two major online and bricks-and-mortar “super sales days” in the US – Cyber Monday and Black Friday.

These last two matter, as every one of us who shops on US pure online or the omni-sites of bricks-and-mortar has been bombarded with offers for the past two weeks, and will spend some of our dollars there this week. Then it’s the run to the line to see where we spend our Christmas funds.

And we will spend. More than last year.

I had a conversation with a guy who ran a McDonald’s franchise on the edge of one of our major cities. Discussing the run up to Christmas, lower intestate rates, higher stock markets and house prices, he cautioned me on the reality of those core shoppers battling everyday life.

He observed that they often don’t have the funds to splurge. It was interesting to hear him talk about the hard link between fuel prices and footfall into any quick service restaurant; fuel up by 10c a litre, family meal sales down.  We often forget that a large part of our society does struggle to feed and clothe the family, and pay the bills to keep the home and cars running.

However, it must be said that no matter how tough things are, we always spend more at Christmas in Australia. Everybody treats themselves, families and friends to just that little extra. And there is no doubt that almost everything in store and online is cheaper than a year ago.  Our Australian pricing is becoming more normal, lowering the attractiveness of overseas sites.

So with that in mind, what are my tips for high selling items and trends over the coming three-and-a-half weeks? Well, here’s a Santa’s list based upon US, UK, Australian and NZ websites and stores:

• Lego
• Xbox One, Call of Duty
• Kindle Fire and Amazon in Australia.
• All things retro and casually hipster, from ASOS clothing to 1970s four-wheel roller skates, to one pint 1950s milk bottles.
• Hams; our love affair with the humble pig is constant all year, and then we consume them like they’re going extinct.
• Bicycles and canoes of every type.
• Michael Kors handbags
• Headphones from Beats to Bose, Bluetooth wireless and in-ear noise cancelling ear pods.
• All smartphones, but iPhone 5s and Samsung Galaxy in particular.
• Tablets? iPad 2 and iPad mini.
• Books? Dr Seuss and Fiona McCallum.
• And PCs? Yes. Toshiba Notebooks will surge again.
• A Paul Smith leather cricket ball, brought into Australia by the tourists for the Ashes.
• Experiences and vouchers; RedBalloon will dominate.
• Hair on bodies; male and female.
• Pop-up stores everywhere from unknown brands to traditional brands. Pure online will open pop up as bricks-and-mortar, including Etsy.
• Surfstitch.com for surfwear.
• Well-priced champagne, French wines and all cider. Whiskeys are big; single malt and premium.

See you at the finish line. On the 25th. Under the tree.

Kevin Moore is the chairman of Crossmark Asia Pacific Holdings.