Holiday shopping survey reveals stressful trend among US consumers

(NEXSTAR) – Finished your holiday shopping yet? Just kidding! We know you’re probably not even close to being done.

The results of a recent poll from Gallup and Shopify suggests that nearly half of U.S. shoppers leave the majority of their holiday shopping for December — and male shoppers are the worst offenders.

The poll, conducted during the first few weeks of November, had included questions intended to gauge when and where the nearly 1,900 respondents planned to shop ahead of the holidays, as well as why they may be putting it off.

Answers indicated that 91% of those polled would be doing “at least” some of their shopping in December, while 49% said they would need to do “most” or “all” of it this month. A full 16% even admitted that they didn’t plan to start shopping until December 1 at the earliest.

Only 8% projected to be done by the end of November, they said.

Of all the age groups surveyed, older shoppers (over 65 years of age) were the most likely to say they would be finished shopping by December (13%), compared to those aged 50–64 (8%), 30–49 (6%) and 18–29 (8%) But the oldest group was also the most likely to save all of their shopping for December (18%), the most common reason being the search for a perfect gift.

By contrast, respondents in the younger groups (50 and under) were more likely to say they were saving their shopping for December because they were waiting on a few extra paychecks to be able to afford presents.

Respondents who identified themselves as men, meanwhile, were almost twice as likely to wait until December to buy gifts (21% vs. 11%), and also twice as likely to cite “procrastination” as the reason (20% vs 10%).

Emani Jeter, the founder of a beauty shop and spa in New York City, told Shopify that men don’t usually frequent her store — but that changes in late December.

“The people who are late are really late, like the week of Christmas,” she told Shopify.

Find yourself in the same boat? At least you’ve still got some popular last-minute options. A previous survey conducted by Gallup and Shopify found that most respondents (60%) will be purchasing at least some gift cards this holiday season.

We all just need to stop procrastinating and go buy them.