Xmas e-commerce turned out to be a turkey after all

Bargain hunters spent £250,000 on Christmas presents at AOL's UK shop during the last quarter, the online service provider has revealed. It may be just peanuts in the great scheme of things -- especially compared to all the e-shopping hype generated across the pond -- but at least AOL has got the stomach to publish the figures. Which is more than can be said for most e-tailers in the UK who seem to think that it's acceptable simply to avoid the subject altogether. AOL merchandise, Dragon speech recognition software and the Encyclopaedia Britannica CD-ROM were just some of the items that proved popular with shoppers in the run-up to Christmas, said an AOL spokesman earlier today. ®