WASHINGTON—Fifty-six percent of holiday shoppers admit that debt is the way they now finance their gift buying, according to a new report.
While the total amount that each shopper spends on presents has stayed roughly the same, at about $660 per person, the majority of shoppers will pay for those gifts with a credit card, according to the National Retail Federation.
the 56% of consumers who pay with plastic represents an 8% increase over the previous year, when 48% used debt to finance purchases, Adweek reported in its analysis.
What’s leading to the increase?
A combination of factors, said Adweek.
“Among them is the steadily growing popularity of buying things online, which hit its highest level ever last year, according to the National Retail Federation. With the ubiquity of search and the ease of technologies like Amazon's one-click checkout, buying goods on the web has become so easy. And since credit is the most preferred payment method for online transactions-47% of shoppers pay this way, according to a 2016 study from Total System Services-it follows that a good many of these purchases wind up on the plastic,” Adweek explained.