Men are already in the holiday spirit

9/19/2018
When it comes to holiday shopping, male consumers are not only off to an early start, some are already finished.

With less than 100 days until Christmas, men were three times more likely to report they were already finished or nearly finished with their holiday shopping by Labor Day. They twice as likely to report they’ll spend “much” more money this holiday season than women, according to data from CompareCards.

Like their male counterparts, younger shoppers are also likely to get a head start, as 18% of folks 53 or younger are done or nearly done with their shopping already, compared to just 4% of those 54 and older.

While early birds are eager to avoid the hustle and bustle of the holidays, most shoppers don’t mind the last-minute rush. Only one in seven credit cardholders in the United States (14%) said they have finished or nearly finished their holiday shopping. Meanwhile, 39% of American credit cardholders don’t start holiday shopping until after Thanksgiving, and 35% of people said they start shopping between Thanksgiving and Dece. 15. Male shoppers who haven’t yet begun their holiday shopping are also likely to start shopping after Dec. 15.

Income also plays a role in when consumers start their holiday shopping, with the wealthiest credit cardholders much more likely to have completed their holiday shopping. Of those American cardholders earning $100,000 or more annually, 17% are finished shopping. In contrast, just 5% of those making less than $100,000 a year are finished.

When it comes to where Americans will shop this holiday season, they are pretty evenly split, as 27.1% will do most shopping in stores, and 26.5% shop most online. Almost half (46.4%) said they are equally split between the two.

However, wealthier, more educated consumers are likely to shop online. For example, 37% of those earning $100,000 or more annually said they do most of their shopping online. Meanwhile, 28% of respondents with a college degree said they preferred to shop online vs. 25% of those with some college education and 21% of those with only a high school degree.

Despite their income, 37% of credit cardholders say they'll spend more this holiday season than last, while 21% said they'll spend less. More than half of Americans (54%) said they will pay off their holiday shopping debts in a month or less. Only 8% say it'll take six months or more, according to the data.
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