MasterCard- Christmas Eve will have busiest shopping hour

ST. LOUIS -- When it comes to holiday shopping, this might be the year of the slacker.

The busiest shopping hour of the year won't likely happen the Friday morning after Thanksgiving, but rather the afternoon of Christmas Eve, according to an annual analysis conducted by MasterCard International.

MasterCard predicts the busiest hour of shopping this year will be between 1 and 2 p.m. Eastern that day.

The analysis also found that shopping in the evening and morning hours is the best way to avoid long lines and crowded parking lots, said Linda Locke, spokeswoman for MasterCard International, whose data office is based in suburban St. Louis.

MasterCard analyzes about 900 million credit card transactions in November and December to gauge shopping patterns for the next holiday season. This year, it also conducted a consumer survey and found that respondents wanted to cut down on the hours they spend shopping, Locke said.

To avoid crowds, people should stay home during the afternoon, which was the peak shopping time last year, Locke said. The slowest shopping day this season is expected to be the Sunday after Thanksgiving, the study said.

Michael Niemira, chief economist with the International Council of Shopping Centers trade group, said the Saturday before Christmas became the biggest annual shopping day about 15 years ago,

Retailers are trying to boost shopping the day after Thanksgiving with big sales and early openings, which could siphon some shopping from Christmas Eve.

"I guess the question is: Do we care?" Niemira said. While many companies focus on the high-volume shopping days, the real test is how much consumers spend over the season overall, he said.

After surveying about 70 chain stores nationwide, Niemira's group estimates sales at stores open longer than a year will be up about 3.5 percent compared with last year.

While not a blockbuster, that's better than the holiday season last year, when sales were up 2.3 percent over 2003, Niemira said.