Check off another Christmas tradition that isn't taking place as much this year, shopping for gifts in person.

A recent article on 97th Floor illustrates just how drastically our shopping patterns have changed. Sure, we've been sliding from the brick and mortar stores to online shopping for several years now, but the threat of COVID-19 has prompted a lot of people to say they're doing ALL of their Christmas shopping online this year.

The study involved 1,000 Americans and dug into their thoughts about crowded malls, bustling small stores, and online shopping. Some of the results are quite interesting.

One of the most astonishing findings was that more than half of us, 52%, said they do not expect to ever shop for the holidays in person again. Ever.

68% said they planned to do most of their Christmas shopping online this year. That means only 32% are planning to do most of their shopping in person.

Traditionally Black Friday has been an event unto itself with people either staying up all night to be the first in the door or getting up before dawn to head to their favorite superstore. That all changed this year. In the survey 81% of the shoppers said that even if the store promised a great in-store experience they're still not sure they want to leave the safety of their home.

While Christmas gift giving is almost an imperative in our society only about 20% of the people in the survey said they were actually in the mood for shopping. Even as retailers are pulling out all the stops to get people to spend money in their stores 73% of those surveyed said they planned to spend only as much as last year, or less.

While the fear of COVID-19 is the primary reason for so many of us jumping wholeheartedly onto the online shopping bandwagon, there is another fear that troubles many of us. 48% of us are more concerned about porch pirates snatching our treasures from our front doors than we are of coronavirus.

One of the most unusual statistics from this study is that 1 in 3 shoppers say they plan to wear their protective face mask while they're shopping ... online. That's probably because they plan on doing their shopping while on the go, either in transit to and from work, or even at work.

You can read more about this study on the 97th Floor website.

No doubt about it, we're all finding new ways of doing old tasks this year. While shopping online does offer some safety and convenience, it will never replace the personal, one on one interaction that you get when you shop at your favorite local business.

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Stefano Lunardi / ThinkStock
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