Ever since Christmas became the somewhat commercialised event that we know it to be today, high street traders and retails have relied quite heavily on it to provide a large chunk of their annual sales. This is also the case in the online domain and given the huge competitiveness of websites these days, there will inevitably be big winners and some losers this year. But which internet sites are heading into the Christmas period in the strongest positions?

Supermarket Websites. Recent reports have shown that supermarket websites have gained a further 25% of the toys and games market this year, following the collapse of smaller retailers both on the high street and online. There is a real risk that supermarket sites will begin to monopolise the markets as they continue to increase the amount of products and services they offer. However, you cannot fault their business model and they are set to do very well this year.

Affiliates. Actual trading sites are not the only ones to see growth in number and size, affiliate sites have also benefited from online growth. These sites tend to advertise the products of larger successful internet sites such as IWOOT, and the larger sites then pay the affiliates commission on each lead they receive. As these affiliate sites are often owned by skilled internet marketers, they frequently get large traffic numbers and can therefore make large profits themselves, especially over busy holiday periods.

Niche Sites. Whilst the large supermarket sites will certainly be grossing more than ever this year, more niche sites will also do well as customer loyalty and specialised product shopping is more important online these days. Sites such as I Want One of Those, who sell gadgets and boys toys, will do very well this year as they have a loyal following of customers and can offer more specialised items that the bigger sites simply cannot.