Shopping - How do you do it?

According to online retailers Amazon.com and eBay, online sales surged on Black Friday as consumers looked for good deals on Wii games consoles and the iPhone and iPod touch. But what's your preferred shopping method?

How do you like to do your Holiday shopping? Are you the kind of person who loves hitting the shops and buying Christmas gifts from brick and mortar retailers, or do you prefer to do your shopping via the web browser and let the postal service take the strain?

[poll id=401]

I'll be honest with you, I hate shopping in the real world at the best of times, and the Holidays are not the best of times. I find the stress levels of my fellow shoppers too much to deal with and choose to avoid all the hassles and shop virtually.

Note: I'm not sure how technologies such as "one-click ordering" fits in with that old adage of "it's the thought that counts" ...

I'm guessing that the sort of person that reads this blog is going to be the sort of person happy to do their shopping online. After all, I find that online I have a far better selection to choose from, I get a far better price (even if I factor in delivery costs) and overall the service is far better than what I expect in the real world.

Increasingly the sorts of shoppers that I see at bricks and mortar retailers are those uncomfortable with shopping online, or those that feel they need the helping hand of a sales person to guide them through the buying process. No offense to sales folks, but usually that's the kind of help I can do without.

Thoughts?