If you are experiencing a last-minute rush of customers recently, you are not alone.

According to a survey for the National Retail Federation, only 55 percent of consumers said they expect to be done with their holiday shopping by today. Meanwhile, 6 percent said they still expect to be shopping on the day before Christmas, and 5 percent said they won’t have their gift-buying all wrapped up until the holiday has passed.

In addition, the survey found that 53 percent of holiday shoppers—about 126 million people—plan to shop this weekend on so-called “Super Saturday,” the last Saturday before Christmas.

“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 NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay in a statement. “Stores will be packed the next few days as consumers rush to complete their shopping.”

Last-minute shoppers told the survey that they planned to spend their money 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, conducted by Proper Insights & Analytics, polled 7,212 consumers about holiday shopping plans.

Rob Bates

JCK News Director