Online shopping is the way to go! No queues, no parking, no problemo! Sure, people keep going on about online privacy and safety, but I think it's safer to shop straight from the comfort of your home.

So browse these recommended retail site reviews, knowing that your online purchase will be just as secure - if not safer than swiping in your local restaurant or store. If you're looking for DVDs, Books, Soundtracks, Movie Posters or Games - you've come to the right place!

Loot / Take2 / Kalahari.net / Amazon (UK) / Amazon (US) / AllPosters

The Low Down: Loot.co.za have an impressive selection of merchandise on sale with a consistent track record when it comes to good service.

Pros: They're fast, efficient and have competitive prices on all nationally-sourced products. Delivery rates are excellent and determined on a sliding scale according to the number of products in your shopping basket.

Cons: Loot relies on a steady flow of loyal customers, and doesn't offer any major "blow-out" sales or promotions. While they're generally cheaper, some of their internationally sourced products have a much higher mark-up than competitors.

Take 2
DVDs, Games, Books, Electronics & Music Shopping.



The Low Down: Take2 have established themselves as one of South Africa's best online retailers with a loyal consumer community.

Pros: Their range of products is impressive, and their search engines are lightning-fast for in-depth browsing. Their product prices are always competitive, and they're able to source DVDs from the USA, United Kingdom and Australia. Take2 are customer-centric and provide detailed documentation on popular products.

Take2 also have an active online user forum for enthusiasts to chat and discuss the latest entertainment news or product features. Take2.co.za have an update news feed on their home page to alert Take2 customers to new releases and promotions.

Cons: Delivery prices are fixed at R29 per order, they don't do "blow-out" sales and the Take2 interface is user-orientated and a bit dull.

The Low Down: Kalahari.net is South Africa's premier online retailer and have a wide range of product department stores.

Pros: Their format is loosely based on retail giant Amazon.com, and they provide a fast, efficient delivery service, which is free for orders over R375. They often have entire department sales for their Book, Music or DVD sections and have regular promotions with prize giveaways.

Kalahari.net also hosts a number of loyalty/reward/incentive programmes, which makes purchasing with Kalahari.net a win-win for affiliated customers. Their new .mobi functionality is a welcome addition, which will make real-time product comparison much easier when shopping in other stores.

Cons: Their range of products does not include out-of-stock products, which can be purchased in the future and the internationally-sourced product information is often sparse or non-existent.

Navigating the website is generally fast, but the technical difficulties page comes up a little too often. In-depth searches were possible with the website's old format, but have been replaced with price/category filters much like Amazon.com.

Amazon.co.uk
Low prices in Electronics, Books, Music, DVDs & more.

The Low Down: If you've got a credit card, you can shop at Amazon.co.uk, one of the world's most popular online retailers.

Pros: Amazon.co.uk's local delivery is fast, and international delivery usually takes up to 3 weeks. Amazon's vast selection of products includes helpful customer reviews and many sale products work out to be significantly cheaper through Amazon.co.uk.

Cons: Currency conversions, import taxes and parcel collection make the purchasing process slightly inconvenient, but the massive discounts of to 75% make it all worthwhile.

The Low Down: Amazon.com is an Internet pioneer, and have established their brand as a household name in the United States.

Pros: Amazon's product range is extensive, and well-maintained. National delivery is prompt, while international customers can expect to receive their goods within 3 weeks. Amazon.com regularly has massive discount sales on a broad range of products.

Cons: Amazon.com doesn't deliver to some countries (incl. SA) and international delivery rates are prohibitively expensive, while import taxes and parcel collection are inconvenient. If you're struggling to get a product, why not try shopping at Take2 using their More USA Products link or alternatively WantItAll, both online retailers that import Amazon.com products to South Africa on your behalf.

The Low Down: AllPosters.com is recognised as the largest international poster and print retailer.

Pros: AllPosters.com covers a wide range of movie-related goods from movie posters to movie t-shirts. Prices are automatically converted into your home country's currency when browsing their site. AllPosters also stock thousands of art prints, and deliver framed, mounted or unframed. Delivery usually takes between 2-3 weeks for international orders, and they always have big discount sales starting from 20% off.

Cons: Their range of latest release movie posters is limited, and their products are expensive for international customers when not on sale.