Santa's sleigh without reindeer and a call to eschew ugly gifts were among the devices featured in advertising campaigns designed to get shoppers to go cyber this festive season.
But as it turned out the deciding factor for present-buyers was the quality of the delivery service, not the advertising.
Taxi service Uber and online retailer Kalahari joined forces during the Christmas and New Year holidays to launch their Ubersleigh stunt, which involved delivery vans filled with the online store's most popular gifts arriving at the buyer's home - driven by an elf.
Online Store Superbalist developed an "End of Ugly" campaign that challenged anyone with an ugly gift to break it and tag it on social media. Those who met the challenge qualified for a 30% discount on their new purchase.
Then there was the Boere-poppie who had a thing for power tools. Takealot used Youtube sensation Suzelle DIY to promote its site (see story on page 9).
But, said online commerce researcher Arthur Goldstuck, one bad experience was all it took to make a consumer reject an online store.
He said that, year-on-year, there had been 30% to 35% growth in the R6-billion online retailing industry.
Jonathan Manners, of research company Columinate, said: "One of the biggest [problems] we found was the quality of delivery."
But the new year is likely to see changes in the quality and speed of delivery in online purchases.
"Takealot has bought Mr Delivery," said Goldstuck, "which allows for low-cost delivery at short notice. It will be interesting to see how they exploit this."
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