Consumers are “notorious procrastinators” when it comes to holiday shopping, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). Though 23 million consumers (10.8%) have completely finished their holiday shopping, more than 33 million shoppers (15.4%) admit they haven't even started, NRF's 2006 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey found. The average person has completed 53.1% of his or her shopping so far, compared to 54.6% at this time last year.

The survey also found that men are still more likely to end up shopping last-minute, with 17.8% stating they have not begun their holiday shopping, compared to 13.1% of women.

“With Christmas falling on a Monday this year, retailers have one more weekend to bring in those holiday procrastinators,” said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. “In the predictably chaotic days before Christmas, retailers will be ready and waiting for the final rush of the season.”

NRF found almost half of shoppers (47.6%) stated they would head to a department store this week to finish their shopping. One-third (33.9%) will shop online and head to specialty stores (33.3%), and only 39% of last-minute shoppers will head to discounters to finish their lists, a large drop from the 70.3% of consumers who planned to shop at discounters earlier this holiday season.

Of those who have started their holiday shopping, 44.7% said they have already bought books, CDs, DVDs, videos or video games, NRF found. The majority (47%) bought clothing or clothing accessories, 37.6% bought toys, and 29.5% bought gift cards/certificates.

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