Despite the whispers of friends and family, the 5pm Dining blog likes Christmas. No, really, we do.

It’s just that the traditional Christmas bricks and mortar shopping expedition has never filled our heart with joy and goodwill to our fellow men.

This year, we are making it easy on ourselves by doing a virtual shopping expedition around 5pm Christmas Gifts.

1. Concentrate on the gift

It is better that way and this is why:

We’ll admit upfront that we are easily distracted. Wandering around real life shops makes it all too easy to get distracted.

Let’s just say, for example, that a man strolls a department store with good intentions to buy his wife a smart handbag.

So far so good but then that man becomes distracted in the menswear department and emerges with a rather natty sports jacket but no handbag. It’s not looking good.

At other times, there have been regrettable occasions when the bloke in question has even been distracted before getting to the relevant shops.

For instance, the man might bump into a friend who is nipping to meet another friend for a drink. Just a quick one, of course. And that seldom ends well.

5pm Christmas gifts eliminates these unwelcome distractions and means we can concentrate on the job in hand.

2. Bye bye wrapping

There are other advantages – your writer is not the neatest of wrappers.

We can put a lot of thought into buying a Christmas gift, but, by the time we have finished wrapping it, the recipient could be forgiven for thinking that it was the family dog who had been busy with the sticking tape and reindeer motif paper.

A 5pm Christmas gift comes as a convenient download voucher – easy to put in a card and no wrapping required.

3. Last minute shopping

The 5pm Christmas gifts page is also useful for the more absent-minded shopper.

Let’s just suppose that it’s Christmas Eve and a man (we’ll keep this anonymous) has just been reminded that he was in charge of Christmas gifts for assorted nieces and nephews.

Normally, disaster beckons.

Thanks to the 5pm Christmas gifts page, the forgetful present-buyer can simply log on; choose from a great selection of beauty gifts, culinary presents, outdoor activities or getaways and save the day.

4. Fantastic choice

Which brings us neatly to our final plus point. 5pm Christmas gifts has a huge variety of gifts.

From Italian meals to Highland getaways via world class sporting events and glam beauty treatments, they are all just a click away.