14 December 2007
Credit card provider Egg said yesterday that frantic gift-buyers are in line for a £594 million festive overspend this Christmas - due to poor planning resulting in panic buying.
The reason behind this waste of credit and cash lies in the fact that around 4 million Britons leave the bulk of their festive shopping to the last week before Christmas.
A hard core of 800,000 go still further, buying their presents on Christmas Eve.
According to the Egg research, shoppers seem set to exceed their budgets by an average of 39%, equivalent to £150 for each late shopper.
Alison Wright, Chief Marketing Officer at Egg, said: "Each year we get 12 months advance warning that Christmas is coming, but still often resort to last minute panic buying.
"Consumers need to try to find ways to drive down the overall cost of Christmas - one way seems to be by avoiding those last minute shopping sprees, when lack of choice and panic buying are rife."
The Egg study also found that, contrary to stereotype, women are just as bad as men when it comes to leaving things too late and panic buying at Christmas.
© 2008 Adfero Ltd
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