Hectic last-minute shopping this festive season |26 December 2013

Christmas is over and we are now getting ready to welcome the new year and once again we will be giving gifts to friends and family members.

Although some people plan their list and shopping trips for months, make their purchases and wrap everything up early, others wait till the very last minute to buy their presents.

Shops are usually over-crowded during the festive season, making the whole shopping unpleasant for some. But because some shops are open until late people tend to delay going for shopping early.
Experts like Karen Pine, a professor of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire in Hertfordshire, England, say leaving buying gifts to the last minute is psychological.

“We know that some people put it off because it’s too difficult and they’re indecisive. Or they don’t want to spend a lot of time and effort,” says Pine who actually studied the psychology behind giving gifts.

Pine adds that shoppers wait till the last minute to do their shopping because of the plethora of potential gift choices – both in stores and online.

“Many people get overwhelmed by all the choice that’s available and decision paralysis sets in; they literally can’t do anything because they can’t decide. So they wait until the last minute when they simply have to make a choice,” adds Pine.

Seychelles Nation’s photographer Louis Toussaint was in town on Christmas Eve and brings some photos of shoppers doing their last-minute shopping.