Clock ticks for last-minute shoppers

Thousands of last-minute shoppers will take to the streets today as the Christmas rush reaches its climax.

Despite perennial warnings that the last-minute rush is good for neither the pocket nor the heart, today will still be marked by the sight of frenzied and bewildered shoppers who have put off the inevitable until they can put it off no longer.

Shoppers may also end up disappointed, as many of this year's must-have items are out of stock. HMV on Grafton Street, Dublin, for instance, has sold out of Nintendo Wii and DS consoles, as have many other retailers. Tesco Ireland, the country's biggest food retailer, estimates that many of its stores will have sold out of turkeys by last night. Only 2 per cent of its turkeys will be left on the shelves this morning and most of those will be the birds that nobody else wants.

Tesco Ireland has already sold out of duck, while carp, the traditional Polish alternative to turkey, is also selling well in 45 of its stores.

The Dublin City Business Association (DCBA) believes that only a tiny minority of shoppers leave all of their buying until Christmas Eve, especially as, for the first time this year, there was late-night shopping in Dublin throughout December.

But those who are just starting their shopping today are often the best customers. "We find that the disposable spend is much higher, there is a certain element of panic, and price might not be the biggest issue. A lot of very expensive items get bought on Christmas Eve, like watches and jewellery," said DCBA chief executive Tom Coffey.

Despite all the talk of a downturn in the economy, the association estimates that the footfall in Dublin - the number of people visiting the shopping areas of the city - will be up 6 per cent on last December. A similar figure has been reported in Cork. "It's not the double-digit growth we have been used to," said Donal Healy, chief executive of the Cork Business Association. "There has been a lot of talk of doom and gloom for 2008, but we want to deal with 2007 first, and it is looking fairly good."

Galway city traders are reporting better trading figures for the past three days after a slow start in December.

A word of warning for last-minute shoppers though: most shops will close earlier than usual today, so you may not have as much time as you think to make that expensive purchase.