Susan Gordon, Business Reporter

The traffic, the crowd on the streets and the late opening of the stores spell two things: long lines and heavy Christmas shopping.

They also spell delays, but that's usual at this time of the year - the season of giving, and splurging and pampering.

Sunday Business took to the streets to see how money was being used this Christmas by consumers.

So, were Jamaicans holding their funds to plunk into the plethora of investment schemes, or were their returns financing a bigger splurge in the Yuletide season?

Window shopping

The answer, according to Sunday Business' poll conducted within the malls, was none of the above. In fact, several 'shoppers' admitted to just browsing.

Still, one tenth of the persons approached did admit that they were holding back to invest in January.

The other 90 per cent said they they were not participants in the investment schemes, and were out to stock up on gifts and groceries.

The most popular use of money was for food purchases, a reaction coming from shoppers who claimed to have very tight budgets.

The stores themselves were also taking note.

"Bwoy, mi no even have the money to spend," said one uptown store clerk, who told Sunday Business that it was one of the worse Christmases she had seen for the business where she worked.

Said another clerk: "I've seen the effects of Cash Plus. A lot of my customers said they were waiting for the little Cash Plus money to spend for Christmas."

The investment scheme, which apparently has many small investors in its club, has put a hold on disbursements to clients until January, saying it was revamping its payment system.

One shopper, said the clerk, came into the store with tears in her eyes because of her disappointment at not getting funds for her Christmas splurge.

Minimum purchases

As for the shoppers themselves, several said they were out mostly to browse and were keeping purchases to a minimum.

"I'll buy the necessary stuff for Christmas and save some for January," said Monique Montaque, an employee of Baba's in 7^th Avenue Plaza, Kingston.

"Remember, dem say January is bruck month so you haffi to put weh some money."

Another consumer who was window-shopping said her plan was to "save the money to renovate my house but I'm waiting until next year.

"Spend now? Not in this madness."

Of the persons surveyed, 20 per cent said there was just no money available to spend, 60 per cent said they would spend it on shopping for food, gifts, or buying an asset, 15 per cent said they were saving to repair their homes and to pay the bills, while 5.0 per cent said they had made commitments to invest.

susan.gordon@gleanerjm.com