Holiday Shopping Countdown: Shoppers Sprinting Right to the Finish

New Study Finds American Holiday Shoppers Willing to Spend Average of 5 Hours Finding Gifts at the Best Price and Over One-Third Will Finish Shopping In Final Hours

NEW YORK--()--Although more than 151 million shoppers* feasted on deals over the Thanksgiving weekend, a new survey conducted on behalf of Citi Price Rewind shows that a host of Americans won’t complete their shopping until hours before the December holidays and will be stressed out doing it.

According to the survey, which was conducted online by Harris Poll and polled over 1,700 U.S. adults, those who shop for the holidays are willing to spend an average of 5 hours visiting multiple stores or researching online in order to find holiday gifts at the best price. And even though shoppers are willing to invest all this time searching for the best deal, over one-third (38%) say they always or often finish their holiday shopping 48 hours or less before the actual holiday.

And time spent searching for the right gifts at the right prices is clearly causing shoppers considerable strain. The survey found:

  • Over a quarter (29%) say holiday shopping stresses them out, ahead of changing jobs (27%), going to the dentist (26%), and spending time with family/in-laws (18%). The most likely group to be stressed about holiday shopping is female millennials aged 18-34 (39%).
  • One in five (22%) are more stressed about holiday shopping this year compared to last year.
  • Nearly four in five (76%) say that a price protection program would be helpful in making their lives easier around the holiday shopping season. In fact, approximately twice as many shoppers said they’d value price protection over valet parking (39%), meditation (37%) and a personal shopper (35%).

With price protection program Citi Price Rewind, consumers can shop with more confidence knowing that they don’t have to spend time searching for a lower price. This exclusive program searches hundreds of retailers’ online sites for a lower price for 60 days after purchase, and if a lower price is found on a registered purchase, the Citi cardmember can get a refund for the difference in price of up to $300 per item and up to $1,200 per year.

Between January and October of 2015, Citi Price Rewind found a lower price on 65% of the products registered and issued approximately $3 million in refunds to customers.

“For busy, stressed shoppers, this can save time on holiday shopping, as Citi Price Rewind does the work of hunting for a lower price after purchase,” said Paula Kelley, Managing Director, Customer Solutions, Citi Cards. “This gives consumers more time to deck the halls and make the holiday jolly!”

Here’s how Citi cardmembers can join in on the savings:

1. Register the purchase you made in store or online with your Citi card at www.citi.com/pricerewind. Citi Price Rewind is a complimentary benefit available year-round on eligible Citi-branded consumer credit cards.

2. Citi Price Rewind searches online at hundreds of retailers for a lower price for 60 days after you buy and register your purchase, a benefit you won’t find anywhere but Citi. If the same item is found at a lower price within 60 days of purchase, you’ll receive an email notifying you to request a refund.

3. Once you request a refund, you can get back the difference in price – up to $300 per item, and up to $1,200 per year – via statement credit, or by check (if the refund is over $25).

*According to the National Retail Federation

2015 Citi Price Rewind Holiday Shopping Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of Citi Price Rewind from December 3-7, 2015 among 2,018 adults ages 18 and older (among whom 1,796 shop for the holidays). This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

About Citi®

Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.

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Contacts

Citi
Jennifer Bombardier, 718-248-4652
jennifer.bombardier@citi.com
or
Emily Collins, 718-248-3901
emily.collins@citi.com

Release Summary

The holiday shopping countdown is on and a new Citi Price Rewind Survey reveals that more than one-third of shoppers will finish their shopping in the last 48 hours.

Contacts

Citi
Jennifer Bombardier, 718-248-4652
jennifer.bombardier@citi.com
or
Emily Collins, 718-248-3901
emily.collins@citi.com