NRF: Late shoppers shift channels

Washington, D.C. - As the clock winds down on the number of shopping days left until Christmas, the National Retail Foundation half of shoppers will wrap up their buying in one channel of retail.

According to NRF's latest holiday survey, 49.9% of holiday shoppers plan to do the remainder of their holiday shopping online - "the highest percent in the survey's 11-year history," NRF pointed out.

As of Dec. 9, before the most recent weekend, 32 million holiday shoppers had not even started shopping.

To conduct the NRF 2013 holiday consumer spending survey, Prosper Insights & Analytics polled 6,324 consumers from December 2 to 9.

Bargains are sales drivers an, 45.4% of respondents said they will will shop department stores while 37.4% will complete their lists at discount stores. Others will shop at electronics stores (24.1%), clothing and accessory stores (23.6%), grocery stores (15%) and outlet stores (13.7%).

When it comes to what types of gifts people have already bought, apparel and toys rank high on the list. Half (49.6%) have already bought apparel this year, and 38.7% have bought toys. Additionally, holiday shoppers have filled their baskets with home décor or home-related items (18.4%) as well as electronics (26.6%), jewelry (17.5%) and personal care or beauty items (19.6%). Slightly more than one-third (34.4%) have bought gift cards, the most requested gift item of the season.

Many who aren't finished shopping plan to wrap up by tomorrow (29.2%), 14.2 % on Friday, and another 12.3% on Saturday while 10.1% will wait until Christmas Eve.

Budget-conscious shoppers so far have shied away from deferring payments. A total of 41.9% paid with debit cards, 31.8% used credit cards, 24% used cash and 2.3% used checks.

A few will keep shopping on Christmas, 9.2% of those celebrating Christmas planning to shop online that day, up from 4.9% when NRF first asked in 2009. As many as 28% said they will browse the web, while 53.4% will cook a holiday meal and 10.5% will go to the movies.