Not many retail stores are open on Christmas Day, but if they were, nearly one-fifth of Americans would set the eggnog aside and head for the mall. Among millennials, the totals are even higher.

Among the general population (age 18 to 65 and older), 58% said that they’d never shop on Christmas Day, according to an online survey of 1,267 American consumers conducted in November by LoyaltyOne Consulting. When asked what they would do if retailers opened for business at 6:00 p.m. Christmas evening, 18% of general population respondents said they would take advantage of the extra time to shop.

The younger a person is, the more likely that person is to want to shop on Christmas Day. Among those 18 to 24 years old, 30% said they would shop on Christmas if the stores were open, and 27% of 25- to 34-year-olds said they’d shop on Christmas if they could.

The survey results also showed that shoppers remain demanding during the holiday shopping fracas. Here are several data points from the survey:

• 94% of all shoppers surveyed said they expect retailers to take extra measures to keep checkout lines moving during the holiday rush
• 80% of shoppers said they blame the retailer if they have to wait because of another customer’s coupons, returns or customer service problems; except in the millennial demographic, where four out of ten said they resent the other customer, not the store, for making them wait
• 89% of all shoppers said they expect retailers to take extra measures to keep departments orderly despite the busy season
• 59% of shoppers said holiday gift return policies make or break their opinion of a retailer
• 20% of shoppers reported an unhappy experience during last year’s gift-buying season that completely ruined their holiday mood; for young millennials (18-24) that score soared to 40% and for older millennials (25-34) it was 30%.

Make of all this what you will.

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