Washington, December 19, 2008 – Even though the clock is ticking, twenty percent of people haven’t begun their holiday shopping and millions more have a substantial number of names to check off their lists. According to an NRF survey, conducted this week by BIGresearch, the average person has completed 64.7 percent of their holiday shopping. *

The survey also found that 44.5 million people have not started holiday shopping, with the biggest procrastinators being men (24.2% haven’t started) and 18-34 year-olds (24.2%). One in three shoppers (30.1%), on the other hand, says they are completely finished.

“With so much shopping left to do, the weekend before Christmas will be one of the most important periods of the year for retailers,” said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. “Retailers will try to make last-minute shopping easier for holiday procrastinators by offering incredible promotions and gift ideas within a certain budget or for a specific person.”

About the Survey

The NRF 2008 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey was designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to the winter holidays. The survey polled 4,117 consumers and was conducted for NRF by BIGresearch, December 16-18, 2008. The consumer poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.7 percent.

BIGresearch is a consumer market intelligence firm that provides unique consumer insights that are gathered online utilizing very large sample sizes. BIGresearch’s syndicated Consumer Intentions and Actions survey monitors the pulse of more than 8,000 consumers each month to empower its clients with unique insights for identifying opportunities in a fragmented and changing marketplace.  

The National Retail Federation is the world's largest retail trade association, with membership that comprises all retail formats and channels of distribution including department, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet, independent stores, chain restaurants, drug stores and grocery stores as well as the industry's key trading partners of retail goods and services. NRF represents an industry with more than 1.6 million U.S. retail establishments, more than 24 million employees - about one in five American workers - and 2007 sales of $4.5 trillion. As the industry umbrella group, NRF also represents more than 100 state, national and international retail associations. www.nrf.com.

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* This is the first year NRF has asked consumers how much shopping they have completed the week before Christmas; therefore, previous data is not available.