Harry’s Guide to Gift Shopping
Navigate the furious frenzy of holiday gift shopping with ease using our how-to guide on getting your gifting done as stress-free as possible.
While facing the frantic can be fun, holiday gift shopping in December is quite the ordeal. Unless you’ve got sharp elbows and lots of patience, rubbing shoulders with the rest of the crowd attempting to get their shopping done last-minute is less than ideal. That said, there’s no substitute for celebrating loved ones during the most wonderful time of the year.
What’s the solution? As per usual, some good old-fashioned planning ahead – and we’re here to help you do it. Avoid the masses, save time, and nail gift-giving with these holiday shopping tips.
The best thing you can do to avoid return trips (to the store or post office) and ensure your gift will be a great fit right out of the box is to nail down the exact sizes of your gift recipients. Whether you’re shopping for family, friends, a coworker, or maybe even your neighbour, ask a mutual to discreetly find out the specific size of the person you’re shopping for; or slightly riskier, ask them yourself on the downlow.
Save yourself some time and effort by cutting out the in-person window shopping for online window shopping. If you’re not totally sure who’s got what, first check to see if a store has a website or digital lookbook to prevent any disappointment or wasted steps. This will also keep you from needlessly navigating any in-store foot traffic – something we could all use a little less of this time of year.
Buy Online, Pick-Up In-Store – and acronym everyone should keep top-of-mind this holiday season. Whether you’ve cut it too close to the shipping deadline, it’s easier for you to stop by a store, or you’re already planning on popping in at some point soon, BOPIS is your gift shopping best friend. Another bonus is, you see the item right away, so if you need to return it immediately or are encouraged to pick up another one for someone else on your list, you get to see it up-close even sooner.
Here’s how to beat the crowds while feeling like a VIP. When you book an appointment with one of our Style Advisors in-store, you not only get their undivided attention and assistance, you also gain their style and gifting wisdom. Our season Style Advisors have been around the block, and this holiday season certainly isn’t their first, so we recommend leveraging their experience and expertise to your advantage.
Want to gain all the advantages of book an appointment without actually having to come in-store? Enjoy first-class service from a Style Advisor from the comfort of your own home, office, or remote location (gift shopping from the car, anyone?) by video or audio calling a member of our staff. Not only does this keep you out of the holiday shopping crossfire, it means you can multi-task when decorating the tree, lighting the Menorah, singing carols, or stoking the fire.