The calendar may say September, but some consumers have already gotten a jump on the Christmas shopping.
CreditCards.com asked more than 1,000 adults over the Labor Day weekend if they had started shopping for the holidays, and researchers found that about one in seven of those polled have started buying their gifts, USA Today reported.
Parents are about twice as likely to have started stashing the gifts than people without kids.
A customer psychologist told USA Today that she isn't surprised that people are hitting the stores early.
Kit Yarrow said that there are two forces driving shoppers this year: the flexibility of online shopping and special promotions in stores.
The survey also found that one in four shoppers hope to be done by the end of November, the traditional start of holiday shopping.
And how will holiday shoppers be spending their hard-earned dollars? Will they go to brick and mortar stores? Or will online sales prevail?
Creditcards.com found that 60 percent of shoppers will still shop in person in retail stores, while 23 percent will hit the computer to look for bargains. A few will use their tablets or cell phones to shop, while only 2 percent will go with the now-outdated mail order catalog.
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