DAYTON, Ohio >> Fewer shoppers plan to procrastinate when it comes to holiday shopping this year, as the peak of the shopping season approaches next month.

Last year, nearly a quarter of shoppers waited until December to begin looking for gifts, down to about 16 percent this year, according to a survey from BestBlackFriday.com.

While shopping won’t start as late for many people, sales are gravitating closer to the most active part of the biggest shopping season of the year. About 65 percent of shoppers plan to start buying gifts before Thanksgiving, an increase from 62 percent last year, and 22 percent have already started, down from about 26 percent last year.

They also plan to finish their holiday shopping earlier. About 5 percent have already finished and 84 percent plan to be done before Christmas week, up from 80 percent last year.

The online survey found that 56 percent of people prefer online shopping for gifts, but will mostly still do a mix of in-store and online shopping this holiday season.