For 2009, It's Last-Minute Shopping

With a week until Christmas Eve, there seems to be plenty of shopping left to do. According to the National Retail Federation’s 2009 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, the average person had completed 46.7 percent of their holiday shopping by the second week of December, less than the 47.1 percent completed by this time last year. This is the lowest percentage since 2004, when the average person had completed 46.3 percent of their shopping by the same period.

“Retailers know the final lap counts the most and are planning to emphasize promotions and discounts to bring in last-minute shoppers,” says Tracy Mullin, NRF president and ceo. “As Christmas Day creeps closer, retailers will be ready for an influx of procrastinators, from those who are checking the final names off their list to millions who haven’t even started shopping.”

The survey found 19 percent (or 42 million people) had not even started their shopping as of late last week, compared to 8.6 percent who are finished. By age, adults over 65 years old have completed the most shopping (50 percent), while adults 45-54 year olds have completed the least (44.1 percent).

The majority of shoppers say they plan to finish their shopping by Saturday, December 19. And where are they heading? According to the survey, discount stores and department stores can expect to see the most traffic in the coming days. Grocery stores can also expect to see an increase in last-minute shopping this year (11.5 percent verses 8.4 percent in 2008). Not to be overlooked, 38 percent of procrastinators also plan to shop online.

NRF forecasts that holiday sales will be down 1 percent compared to 2008. November retail industry sales, which were released last week, dropped 0.8 percent year-over-year.