Shoppers hitting stores for last-minute Christmas gifts

Shoppers scramble to get last minute gifts

Last minute shoppers are scrambling to check everything off their list for Christmas morning

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. - If you haven't done your Christmas shopping yet, don't worry, you're definitely not alone. "Having your kids want something and just not being there, and telling them oh, it'll be here a few days later, it's just not acceptable, as a mom," said shopper Ashley Perez, visiting the Altamonte Mall.

The National Retail Federation expected 141 million people to go out shopping this weekend, across the country. "I travel a lot for work," said shopper Don Mills, "so getting time in to get it done is kind of hard."

They call it "Panic Saturday," and it's right up there with "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday" when it comes to the busiest shopping days before Christmas. "Many consumers expect that they will be buying gifts up to the last minute. 58 percent of holiday shoppers tell us that they expect to buy their last gift the week leading up to the Christmas holiday," said Katherine Cullen, with the National Retail Federation.

If you still have people to shop for but can't get to the local mall or outlet center, experts said there were still possibilities out there for shoppers at their wit's end for presents. If you can't make it into the store or get shipping fast enough to make sure that your gift makes it under the Christmas tree, don't worry. Marketing expert Tom Jelneck said digital gift cards also made a great option.

"But I really want you to be careful with those, because you've got to go to a reputable website, make sure the URL is legit, make certain you're safe when you're doing that, but that's always a great last-minute gift idea," Jelneck said.

Jelneck said there were also great gifts you could buy that didn’t need any wrapping paper. "The other thing you can do is give the gift of an experience. For example, buy people tickets to the zoo, the river cruise, or what have you. There's not going to be a lot of lines waiting to purchase there, so think outside the box, and you might do well."

If you're set on buying a physical gift, many stores are offering last-minute sales, in the shop and online. Experts said your safest bet was to buy in the brick-and-mortar stores, to be sure it didn’t get delayed in shipping.