Equifax urges consumers to avoid panic buying in order not to blow their budget
London, December 2016 – The Christmas shopping season is in full swing, but a new survey* from Equifax, the consumer credit expert, reveals that 10% of shoppers will still be buying gifts on Christmas Eve. Leaving the seasonal shopping until the last minute increases the risk of blowing the budget in order to make sure there’s something under the Christmas tree. Equifax warns consumers to plan ahead to avoid having to pay off unnecessary Christmas debts in 2017.
When asked if they would be buying five or more presents on Christmas Eve, men (11%) were slightly more likely to be last minute shoppers than women (10%). Perhaps surprisingly, the over 55s are less organised than younger shoppers with 12% gift buying on Christmas Eve, compared to 8% of 18 to 24 year-olds.
Londoners and the Welsh (16%) are the most likely to hit the shops in a panic, compared to just 6% of consumers from the East of England. Shoppers in the North (12%) are the next region most likely to do their festive gift buying late, but people in the Midlands are far more organised, with only 7% still buying five or more gifts on Christmas Eve.
“Planning ahead is likely to ensure that you can bring Christmas in on budget,” explains Lisa Hardstaff, Equifax credit information expert. “There’s no use bagging a few bargains on Black Friday, only to blow the budget in a panic on Christmas Eve. Leaving gift buying to the last minute means there’s a temptation to spend more and put it all on credit card.”
*Source Equifax survey of 1897 adults who celebrate Christmas.18th – 19th October 2016.
About Equifax
Equifax, Inc. (“Equifax”) powers the financial future of individuals and organizations around the world. Using the combined strength of unique trusted data, technology and innovative analytics, Equifax has grown from a consumer credit company into a leading provider of insights and knowledge that helps its customers make informed decisions. The company organizes, assimilates and analyzes data on more than 820 million consumers and more than 91 million businesses worldwide, and its databases include employee data contributed from more than 5,000 employers.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., Equifax operates or has investments in 24 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. It is a member of Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500® Index, and its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EFX. Equifax employs approximately 9,400 employees worldwide.
Some noteworthy achievements for the company include: Ranked 13 on the American Banker FinTech Forward list (2015); named a Top Technology Provider on the FinTech 100 list (2004-2015); named an InformationWeek Elite 100 Winner (2014-2015); named a Top Workplace by Atlanta Journal Constitution (2013-2015); named one of Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies (2011-2015); named one of Forbes’ World’s 100 Most Innovative Companies (2015). For more information, visit Equifax
