Holiday shopping already kicking into gear

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PollAccording to a new survey, a substantial number of Americans have already started buying gifts to distribute the friends and family in December. More are about to start, and some are already done.


The survey comes from CouponCabin and was conducted by Harris Interactive.

13% of respondents have already begun shopping, and 17% plan to participate in Christmas in July sales being held by some retailers.

Here are some granular results among the group that has already started:
* I’m completely done – 4 percent
* Bought most of my gifts already – 15 percent
* Have some of my gifts – 36 percent
* Have one or two items – 45 percent

 (For nervous retailers looking at that “completely done” figure, we note that in a pool of 100 people, 4% of 13% works out to one half of a shopper, so no need to panic, yet.)

“Every year we see holiday shoppers getting a jump start earlier and earlier,” said Jackie Warrick, President and Chief Savings Officer at CouponCabin.com. “For many families, planning ahead for holiday shopping is the best option, as it gives them plenty of time to buy gifts and to find the lowest prices possible.”

The survey checked the general holiday shopping patterns of the respondents. Here are the results of that portion of the survey:
* All year round, I continually shop for the holidays – 11 percent
* Eight months to one year in advance – 3 percent
* Three to seven months in advance – 18 percent
* One month to less than three months in advance – 36 percent
* Less than one month in advance – 21 percent