Holiday shopping season: Why experts are encouraging consumers to buy gifts now

CHICAGO - Halloween is still three weeks away and many people are already shopping for holiday gifts.

While Amazon's Prime Days are set to kick off again Tuesday, nearly a third of consumers have already started purchasing presents, according to a survey from the consumer app TopCashback.

In a FOX 32 money saver special report, Dawn Hasbrouck takes a look at why there's a push to shop now.

"What we are consistently hearing from shoppers is that there is an unknown. There’s unknown around where the economy is going," said Brad Godwin, senior vice president at Shopkick.

"There’s pending layoffs that I think are going to happen. They happened last year in Q4 across much of the major industries across the U.S. I think there is anticipation and the data believes that’s going to happen again," he said.

Godwin said that not knowing or lack of consistency with the economy is the number one factor that has people shopping earlier than they ever have been.

"If you can start in October and be done December 1, you’re going to be in a really good position to maximize savings," Godwin said.

He said that's the sweet spot for early holiday shopping where you can find deals both online and in stores. And it's thanks to one major online retailer.

"Amazon set that paradigm with their annual Prime Day. Shoppers are trained to seek those deals specifically in consumer electronics," Godwin said.

Consumer finance expert Andrea Woroch said not only are retailers rolling out deals earlier to extend the holiday shopping season, but consumers want to shop smarter because budgets are tight thanks to inflation.

"We’re seeing Christmas creep starting earlier than ever and there’s a few things happening here," Woroch said.

Depending on the type of consumer you are and how much you can afford to spend, there are two strategies you can use when doing your holiday shopping early.

"The first would be saving money for your holiday purchases," Woroch said. "The second – maybe better alternative – would be to start shopping now. And the benefit of shopping early is because it spreads out purchases over several weeks instead of you having to try to buy everything at once."

Woroch said the first savings strategy isn’t always as easy as it sounds.

"The reality is people aren’t as good at stashing away cash because an unexpected purchase comes up. Dinner with friends comes up and there’s always a reason to use that money instead of saving it," she said.

With so many sales happening in six weeks, how can you tell which deal is for you?

"One tool I like is called Karma. Karma is great because it offers price comparison, but they also have a price tracking tool. Add it to your wish list and they will alert you when it goes on sale," Woroch said.

"This [CamelCamelCamel] is a website that tracks prices specifically for items sold on Amazon – and that’s just a good benchmark – but that will tell you if the item you are looking at now is the cheapest, recent selling price," Woroch said.

No matter how much holiday shopping prep you do, Woroch said the number one problem consumers still have is making a budget and sticking to it. But don’t worry, there's an app for that.

Our experts add planning out your holiday purchases makes you more conscious of what you are buying and it keeps you from shopping last minute. That’s when people tend to overspend.