The busiest time to be in a mall is the final Friday afternoon before Christmas.
Survey after survey shows that many shoppers wait until just before the holiday because they are hoping for good deals and steep discounts.
The second reason is that people need deadline pressure in order to be efficient.
"We always seem to forget. we put everything off," said marketing expert Tony Chapman. "Christmas seems to be that weird date (where people ask) is it Monday or Tuesday? What days are we getting off? And at the last minute, it just catches up with you."
For those that need ideas there are many out there, including face masks, aromatherapy diffusers, or gift certificates to adventurous activities that a person wouldn't buy for themselves.
"We're moving away from kind of materialistic to experiences. The 'experience economy' is growing twice as fast, so now people are looking at cash to do experiences. I want cash so I can travel. I want to do the edgewalk at CN tower. I want to have that post that I can put up on Instagram so everyone can say look at how exciting my life is," said Chapman.
Remember: the gift is something the recipient should want, not need.
Many are concerned about online shopping -- worrying their parcels won't arrive on time -- which is why they're storming the malls.
"It's a panic," said Chapman.
The average Quebecer will devote $458 to holiday spending.
