Procrastinators out in force

NEW YORK – Last year, Lucila Gomez and her husband started their holiday shopping around Thanksgiving and wrapped it up a week before Christmas, spending $750 on tablets and clothing for their three children and relatives.

This year? Gomez is waiting until she gets her annual bonus on Friday to get started – and she’s limiting her spending to $200, sticking to World Cup themed jerseys for her 10-year-old twins and a 6-year-old.

“Last year, we were confident. We were like, ‘Get them whatever they want,’” said the 49-year-old Buckeye, Arizona resident, an hourly worker in the billing department of a health company. “This year, we’re waiting until we both get paid. We want to go into the new year not owing anything.”

Last-minute holiday shoppers are back in force – and inflation is partly to blame.

For the first two years of the pandemic, many were buying earlier in the season, afraid of not getting what they wanted because of shortages of products or delays in deliveries. They also had more money to spend thanks to government stimulus checks and child care credits.

But this year, supply chain snags have eased and shoppers aren’t as worried about availability as they are about higher prices on everything from rent to food, causing them to postpone their buying until the last minute.

Gomez, for instance, said that even though she and her husband, an electrician, each got a raise, it still wasn’t enough to offset their rising expenses. In fact, she said her family moved in with her parents after their monthly rent jumped from $1,500 to $2,000 earlier this year. She’d hoped to save for a house, but mortgage rates keep going up.

Last-minute shopping is also being encouraged by a quirk in this year’s calendar, according to Brian Field, global leader of Sensormatic Solutions, which tracks store traffic. With Christmas falling on Sunday, consumers have all week to shop.

Retailers are relying on the last-minute spending rush to help meet their holiday sales goals after a weaker-than-expected November.

Americans cut back sharply on retail spending last month as the holiday shopping season began with high prices and rising interest rates taking their toll on households, particularly lower-income families.

Retail sales fell 0.6% from October to November after a sharp 1.3% rise the previous month, the government said last week.

JULIA NIKHINSON/AP Americans cut back sharply on retail spending last month as the holiday shopping season began with high prices and rising interest rates taking their toll on households, particularly lower-income families.