OVER 126 MILLION CONSUMERS PLAN TO SHOP ON SUPER SATURDAY AS CHRISTMAS NEARS

Just over half of U.S. adults surveyed expect to finish their holiday gift shopping by today, but others will still be buying gifts on Christmas Eve — and some will miss the deadline altogether. That’s according to the annual survey released by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.

The survey found that only 12 percent of consumers had finished their holiday shopping as of December 12, with shoppers having completed an average of only 61 percent. A total of 55 percent expected to be done purchasing gifts by today, with 6 percent saying they will still be shopping Sunday and 5 percent saying their final gifts won’t be bought until after Christmas.

The survey found that 53 percent of consumers — about 126 million people — plan to shop this weekend on “Super Saturday,” the last Saturday before Christmas.

Of consumers who had completed half or less of their shopping, 42 percent said they were still deciding what to buy. Waiting for requests, other financial priorities and being too busy with other activities were each cited by 26 percent for the delay.

As of December 12, last-minute shoppers planned to purchase their gifts online (51 percent), at department stores (41 percent), discount stores (26 percent), clothing or accessories stores (21 percent), electronics stores (18 percent), local/small businesses (14 percent) and grocery/supermarket stores (14 percent).

The survey found 54 percent of consumers purchased clothing or clothing accessories, 39 percent toys, 39 percent gift cards, 35 percent books, movies and other media, 25 percent consumer electronics or computer-related accessories and 25 percent food or candy.

Gifts of experience such as tickets to a sporting event, spa treatments, a wine club or a cooking class have also been popular this year, with 23 percent of consumers and sought by 39 percent.

For consumers who miss this weekend’s deadline, 47 percent plan to take advantage of after-Christmas sales in-store, and 46 percent say they’ll plan to do the same online.

“Even though many consumers got a head start with holiday shopping early in the season, millions more are leaving their gift buying to the last minute and beyond,” said Matthew Shay, president and CEO of NRF. “Stores will be packed the next few days as consumers rush to complete their shopping, and anybody ordering online at this point should probably choose in-store pickup as their delivery option.”

“Similar to what we saw over Thanksgiving weekend, consumers are leveraging their smartphones to guide them on their final purchases for the holidays,” added Phil Rist, executive vice president of strategy at Prosper. “Retailers this year have needed to offer great deals online and encourage young people making purchases through their smartphones to take advantage of offerings such as buy online and pick up in store.”