By Katarina Gustafsson and Matthew Boyle, Bloomberg

It’s snowing. The children laugh and prance through the woods. Dad fells the perfect fir and carries it home over his shoulder. The family sings carols and drinks cocoa as they happily decorate the tree.

That yuletide dream, peddled by Hallmark cards and Lifetime movies, is as believable as flying reindeer. For Christine Chen, the reality is often squabbling over the right tree, scratching the car with the branches, and leaving a trail of needles as it’s crammed through the door.

So this year, the new mom went tree shopping exactly where she goes for most purchases: the Internet, where she paid $136.74 for a seven-foot fir. As more consumers like Chen opt for convenience over fantasy, online tree sellers are seeing sales surge this year.

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