Quality and customer service are just two of the reasons more people are travelling South to Christmas Shop. In 2018 a Cross Border Shopping Survey showed over 450 million euro was spent in Northern Ireland by people from the Republic. However, in recent years those trading in border counties say this trend is dying. Gordon Fleming manager of Flemings in Monaghan Town says people come here for personalised service.
"On the electrical end we would pride ourselves on product knowledge, so we would try to find out what the customers requirements are an tailor the appliances to that, rather than just sell you an appliance. There's very little price difference but there's a big difference in product knowledge and our ability to deliver on time."