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Isn’t it amazing how much things have changed in recent years? Shopping used to take place on the high street. Now, I can indulge whilst wearing my dressing gown at three o’clock in the morning, browsing the wares of a back-street retailer in Mumbai.

Have you ever noticed how difficult it can be to buy an unusual birthday present nowadays? Funnily enough, you always seem to be able to find the things you want to buy when you’re not looking for them. Annoyingly, you never seem to be able to find them again when you need to.

Maybe an unusual birthday present simply doesn’t exist any more, perhaps because nothing is so unusual nowadays. Before the days of Internet shopping, if you needed to buy a gift for a family member or loved one, high-street retailers were your only option.

Some people did look further afield, though. Mail-order shopping in the past comprised catalogues, shopping channels, newspaper and magazine adverts, and leaflets pushed through your door. The companies behind these marketing ploys were the only access most people had to buying goods from outside their home residence.

Isn’t it amazing how things have changed? Nowadays, if you’re looking for an unusual birthday present, there are numerous options available. Disregarding the Internet (we’ll come back to that in a moment), the world seems a far smaller place now.

I buy quite a few birthday gifts in advance when I’m on holiday. After all, it’s one way to guarantee recipients don’t already have whatever you’re buying them. I also save a fair amount of money in the process, so I really don’t mind making purchases several months prior to the occasion.

Television also plays a larger role today. When I was growing up, there were no shopping channels. We only had four channels in total. There were two offerings from the BBC, one from ITV and then there was Channel 4. Then everyone started getting Sky and the number of available channels exploded.

QVC was the first shopping channel I remember. Had I viewed it more frequently, finding an unusual birthday present would have been a breeze. Now, via a multitude of channels, you can buy virtually anything from cars and holidays, to loans and even pizza.

Despite all this, the Internet is what really changed the method of shopping. The thing that always amazes me about the Internet, is that a tiny retailer in the deepest, darkest backwater can set up a website and immediately connect with the rest of the world.

I have a friend who sells car mats online from a tiny unit in Scarborough, who, last week, shipped orders to Santiago, Kuala Lumpur and Cape Town. So in conclusion, looking around for unusual birthday presents should be easier, thanks to the opportunities presented by alternative shopping.

If you’re looking for an unusual birthday present, it is easier to find what you are looking for than you may think!