Shoppers are holding out until the last minute to finish, or even start, their holiday shopping amid a growing trend of procrastination.
“This year consumers are shopping later,” Michael P. Niemira said at the beginning of December. Niemira, chief economist and director of research with the International Council of Shopping Centers, said he saw this pattern develop last year. “It is the nature of the consumer to buy closer to the need,” he said, but added there wasn’t “one overriding reason” for the pattern.
About 35 million people, or 16.5 percent, haven’t started their shopping yet, according to the National Retail Federation, which released the data Wednesday. Last year, 33 million people (15.4 percent) hadn’t started shopping by this point. Just under 20 percent of men hadn’t started shopping, while 13.7 percent of women had yet to buy anything. The findings, which have a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percent, come from a survey of 8,135 customers done by BIGresearch for the NRF from Dec. 4 to 11.
On average, consumers have completed 52.6 percent of their shopping, down slightly from 53.1 percent last year.
However, about 25 million consumers, or 11.7 percent, have finished all their shopping, up from 23 million, or 10.8 percent, last year.
This week is the “busiest week,” with a lot of people coming in to buy gifts, said Sintayehu Woldemichael, a cashier at Rodman’s in Friendship Heights. Rodman’s sells a wide variety of products, from international foods and beverages to candy, housewares and appliances, and children’s toys.
Another survey released by Decision Analyst Inc. for Circuit City revealed that 32 percent of parents say they will finish shopping one week in advance, and 31 percent two weeks before Christmas, with 22 percent still buying gifts on Christmas Eve. This last figure has increased from 16 percent three years ago. About 3,300 parents were surveyed for the study.
