Procrastinators face last-minute holiday shopping

— -- It's crunch time for the rising number of holiday-shopping procrastinators.

After fueling strong Black Friday sales, many worn-out retail warriors retrenched. Now, with Christmas just six days away, consumers are heading out in droves.

"It's going to be a mad week," says Bill Martin, co-founder of retail research firm ShopperTrak.

After Black Friday, "the discounts are much less, and the consumers are out of gas," he says. "Now, new paydays have come, and as (Christmas) gets closer, the hysteria starts again."

Three fourths of shoppers still had gifts to buy this week, according to a Visa survey conducted this past weekend.

Just 7.6% of people had wrapped up their shopping by the end of the first week in December — the lowest level since the National Retail Federation began tracking that statistic in 2005. Last year, 10.1% had finished by that time.

As of Dec. 7, nearly 37 million people had not even started their shopping, says the NRF. .

Related Stories

Man kills wife, 3 kids in mass shooting: Police

• Apr 23, 12:35 PM

Trump, NY AG resolve dispute over $175M bond

• Apr 22, 12:14 PM

OJ Simpson dies at 76

• Apr 11, 6:32 PM

Among reasons for delays:

•Holding out for discounts. Half of those who still had to buy gifts said they're waiting for better deals and think the best are yet to come, says a Lands' End survey.

•"Self-gifting" first. After cutting back for so long, shoppers used early deals to purchase items they wanted or needed personally. "A lot of people used Black Friday to buy for themselves and not gifts," says NRF spokeswoman Kathy Grannis.

•More time for Hanukkah shopping. The eight-day holiday begins Tuesday, Dec. 20. . In 2010, the celebration began 19 days earlier, on Dec. 1.

•Waiting for cash. Ten percent of shopping dawdlers surveyed by shopping site PriceGrabber are waiting for a year-end work bonus before splurging.

•Procrastination comes naturally. Two in ten Lands' End respondents said they will procrastinate no matter what. That jibes with research from Joseph Ferrari, author of Still Procrastinating: The No-Regrets Guide to Getting It Done .

"Twenty percent of Americans — men and women — are chronic procrastinators," he says. "They'll not only do it with Christmas shopping, they'll also do it on April 15. They'll wait until the gauge goes to E before they get more gas."