Physical retail is critical as last-minute shoppers plan to shop in store

The pandemic won’t stop consumers from finishing up their holiday shopping in physical stores.

Sixty-four of last-minute shoppers plan to do the last of their Christmas shopping in-store, according to a Klarna survey of over 40,000 U.S. consumers. The survey also found that 79% of shoppers have left their holiday shopping to the last minute and plan to finish buying gifts for loved ones within two weeks of Christmas. Of these eleventh-hour shoppers, 35% will save the last of their holiday shopping for the week of Christmas.

The survey also revealed that clothing and accessories (78%) are the most popular gifts to shop for at the last minute, followed by electronics (45%), gift cards (44%) and home goods (33%).

“Klarna’s Last-Minute Christmas Shopping Survey has uncovered many interesting consumer shopping trends for retailers to consider as we count down to the holidays, including that the majority of U.S. shoppers plan to shop in physical retail stores for last-minute gifts this year,” said David Sykes, head of U.S. at Klarna. “This is consistent across all age groups, including the digitally-inclined younger generations such as Gen Z and Millennials, and illustrates how valuable the in-store shopping experience is, even in today’s current climate.”

Other highlights from the survey are below.

• Curbside pickup options are important to some: 27% of last-minute shoppers will only head to physical stores if there are curbside pickup options available.

• Gift cards emerge as a top gift among last-minute shoppers: Giving gifts that allow the recipient to choose what they want are hot this year, with 44% of last-minute shoppers saying they’ll be giving gift cards or money to their loved ones this holiday season.

• Delivery deadlines aren’t a deterrent to many online shoppers: 55% of last-minute shoppers will buy gifts online even if they won’t be delivered in time for Christmas. Men (64%) are more likely than women (53%) to do this.