Say what? 1 in 7 are already shopping Jiayue Huang

Though summer hasn’t officially ended, holiday shopping is already on millions of Americans’ to-do lists.

About one in seven American adults have already started, according to a CreditCards.com survey of 1,004 adults conducted over the Labor Day weekend. That means about 32 million Americans have started crossing gifts off their lists before many kids even finished their summer breaks.

Among holiday shopping earlybirds, the survey found that parents are about twice as likely to have their holiday shopping underway.

Overall, 15% of Americans said they plan to start shopping earlier this year compared with last year, particularly Millennials. More than 22% of 18- to 29-yearolds said they will move up their shopping schedule, while only 9% of people 50 and older are eager to do the same.

Customer psychologist Kit Yarrow said it is not surprising that people have started shopping earlier. Two of the driving forces, she said, are online shopping ’s flexibility and special retail promotions.

“Customers don’t shop long, they shop more frequently,” Yarrow said. And as more Millennials become parents, Yarrow said shopping for kids becomes a priority.

Matt Schulz, senior industry analyst at CreditCards.com, agreed. “Stores are trying to generate some big events, like (Amazon’s) Prime Day. Perhaps that drives people to shop earlier.”

About one in four shoppers hope to wrap up by the end of November, and that’s good news for folks on a budget.

“Procrastinators are those who blow their budget and get in a panic,” Yarrow said.