CHARLOTTE — Nearly 25 percent of Americans finished their holiday shopping by the first week of October, according to a study from LendingTree.
LendingTree, the largest online lending marketplace in the U.S., commissioned a survey of 1,034 consumers in the U.S., conducted by Qualtrics from Oct. 2-6.
“Because of the coronavirus relief bill, increased unemployment benefits and overall reduced spending during the last six months, many Americans have a little more money in their bank accounts today than they otherwise would. It’s possible that some folks have taken advantage of that surplus to do a little early holiday shopping,” LendingTree Chief Credit Analyst Matt Schulz said in the report.
Parents with children under 18 are the most likely to have finished their holiday shopping, with 44 percent of parents with children under 18 reporting that they’re finished.
Additionally, men are more likely to be finished than women, with 41 percent of men surveyed indicating they’ve completed their purchases versus only 7 percent of women.
Despite the one-quarter of Americans who have finished shopping, almost half have not started their holiday shopping.
Another reason for shopping early is many consumers are shopping online and anticipate delays in receiving their gifts.
About 89 percent of consumers reported buying at least some of their gifts online, with 22 percent reporting they will buy all gifts online.
Shares of LendingTree fell $6.46, or 1.87 percent, to last trade near $338.71 on Friday.
The full report is available here.
This story is from the North Carolina Business News Wire, a service of UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Media and Journalism
