The demise of eToys in Europe is a sad day for at least one father and uncle with a niece in America.

In the past few years, the difficulties of posting presents to the United States over Christmas have been replaced by the joy of doing all the holiday shopping over the internet, with one click replacing long queues at the shops and hassles over parking spaces.

eToys had established a reputation as the leading online toy retailer in the US, beating its rival Toys-R-us in the crucial US Christmas selling season one year ago.

It had yet to gain the same reputation in the UK, where it was not so well-known.

But it has clearly been the victim of extremely fierce competition on its home territory, with Toys-R-Us recently teaming up with online retailing giant Amazon and improving its delivery system.

The rivalry has also lead to very cheap prices - good for the customers, but perhaps not so very good for the bottom line.

Price and convenience

Like Amazon, eToys's European subsidiaries emphasised the convenience and efficiency of shopping online.

The eToys sites also offered "one-click" shopping, which allows customers to leave their credit card details once in a secure server and then make repeat orders with a single mouse click.

They gave the impression of reliability and speed, with a confirmation of orders after they were made and again when goods were despatched from the warehouse.

The sites were easy to use, with navigation arranged by categories, by age groups, and by types of products - making it easier to select the right present.

And like Amazon, eToys offered it had added features to keep its customers loyal, like reminders of birthdays and favourite toys.

But keen prices and availability of a wide range of popular toys were even more important in making the site attractive.

Substantial discounts below shop prices were offered on many leading brands.

But like many toy stores, it also had its limits - like the difficulty of stocking all the hot items (especially games) that have become the most sought-after gifts for many older children.

And rivals who specialised in things like games were sometimes able to beat it on price and delivery.

Nevertheless, to someone for whom it had become a vital part of the holiday season, its passing is to be mourned - although no doubt its features will be reborn soon enough somewhere else on the internet.