Yes, we're just past Labor Day and we've already heard about some stores putting up Christmas trees before stocking the Halloween candy.
But as early as it may seem for retailers to be shifting to holiday shopping, when Back-to-School season just ended, they're actually on to something.
Almost half, or 48%, of holiday shoppers surveyed by Bankrate say they are planning to begin their buying by Halloween.
Why is the holiday shopping season starting already?
Though some lament that the holiday shopping season starts earlier every year, retailers are responding to demand, said Ted Rossman, Bankrate senior industry analyst.
"It's true, the season has gotten stretched out,'' Rossman told USA TODAY, adding that the latest survey results are mostly consistent with what Bankrate has seen the past few years.
"About one in eight early birds have already started and about one in eight are planning to start sometime this month. October in particular, has become the unofficial holiday kickoff," he said.
Special retailer sale events like Amazon Prime Days, Target Circle Week and Walmart's Holiday Deals are contributing to the early rush, encouraging early holiday shopping. That trend developed during the Covid-19 pandemic when Amazon first moved Prime Day from the summer to the fall, said Rossman.
Amazon recently announced it would have a second Prime Day in October, but the date has not yet been released.
Rossman also said supply-chain problems during the pandemic caused holiday shoppers to start earlier for fear of losing out on the gifts they wanted to buy. Now, even though the supply chain is better, the shopping habits persist, he said.
"Some of it's actually morphed into more of a desire to spread out your cash flow," Rossman said. "With high inflation, people are very price conscious, and to the extent that they can spread it out, that's a good thing."
Will people spend more or less on holiday gifts?
The economy is affecting people's budgets and holiday shopping plans this year.
According to the new survey, 24% of people said they plan to spend more than last year. Meanwhile, just over a third of holiday shoppers said inflation will change the way they shop this season (34%).
Here are some other highlights from the study:
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One third of holiday shoppers, or 33%, said they expect to spend less than they did last year.
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Just over 2 in 5 shoppers, or 43%, said they expect to spend the same as last year.
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Younger holiday shoppers said they are more likely than older shoppers to spend more this year than they did in 2023. Here's the breakdown by age: 40% of Gen Z (ages 18 to 27) and 31% of Millennial holiday shoppers (ages 28 to 43) expect to spend more. Nineteen percent of Gen Xers (ages 44 to 59) and 15% of Baby Boomer shoppers (ages 60 to78) say they'll spend more.
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While nearly half, or 48%, of shoppers surveyed said they plan to start their holiday shopping before the end of October, 12% said they were starting before Aug. 31 and 13% planned to start in September. Almost a quarter, or 24%, said they'd wait until October, while 37% would wait until November and 15% would wait until December.
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Overall, about a third, or 34%, of those surveyed said inflation will affect the way they shop this year.
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More than 1 in 4 shoppers, or 28%, said they were stressed about the cost of holiday shopping.
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About 3 in 10, or 29%, plan to have money specifically set aside or budgeted for their holiday spending and more than 1 in 4, (28%), say holiday shopping will place a strain on their personal finances. Sixteen percent of those surveyed said they feel pressured to spend more than they are comfortable with.