Retailers chuffed with Xmas sales

SA retailers report that technology items rang the tills over the festive season, despite the recession. Retailers said there had been an improvement in sales of technology products, with hot items being netbooks and digital photo frames.

Incredible Connection CEO Dave Miller says netbooks and notebooks were the season's biggest sellers.

However, other items such as photographic equipment, gaming consoles and gaming software, and global positioning systems also sold very well. Apple products, such as iPods and Macs, also went through the tills quickly.

Incredible Connection had a record sales month at the end of last year and saw a 15% improvement on the previous December, Miller adds.

Sales of technology items at Massmart subsidiaries Game and Dion were also brisk, with the biggest surprise being digital photo frames, which were the "biggest hit for gifts", says corporate affairs executive Brian Leroni.

LCD televisions in the bigger sizes sold well, as did single lens reflex cameras.  Netbooks excelled in the computer category.

Online sales also showed an improvement. Justin Drennan, CEO of local online store WantItAll, says festive season sales last year were a threefold improvement on the previous year. "It's the strongest Christmas we've ever had."

He says there is a definite growth trend, and sales in January are strong so far. Amazon's e-book, the Kindle, was the top selling item "by miles".