Juhani Pekkala, the head of the Finnish Commerce Federation trade lobby, said that he's heard from retailers that the holiday shopping season has gotten off to a good start and - so far - appears to be busier than last year.
Pekkala said the Christmas shopping season is the most important time of year for retailers, and that he expects the positive trend to continue up until Christmas.
According to the federation, consumers in Finland will spend just under one billion euros during the holiday shopping season.
The amount people spend on Christmas usually indicates how sales will fare in the coming year, according to Pekkala.
"It's not strictly comparative, but it gives us a clear indication; if the Christmas shopping season is brisk, it has invigorating effects well into the next year," he said.
Game consoles, computers, phones selling well
CEO of the web and retail electronics chain Verkkokauppa.com, Samuli Seppälä, told Yle that sales are good.
"We have the year's two busiest weeks ahead of us and it certainly has been lively," Seppälä said, saying that sales of consumer electronics are at the top of people's Christmas wish lists.
"[We sell] game consoles, computers, televisions and toys. Of course we also sell a lot of telephones," Seppälä said.
Many start shopping December 4
A large portion of consumers in Finland - some 40 percent - are not last-minute shoppers, and head to retailers and online stores on December 4, well before the holiday rush, according to market research by Finnish retail chain Hong Kong.
However, last-minute shoppers make up the second-biggest group, who start to open their wallets just before Christmas Eve.
According to research by Nordea Bank, the typical Christmas budget of consumers in Finland is on average around 517 euros. Each consumer spends an average of some 305 euros on gifts and 212 euros on other holiday-related items.
But the Finnish Commerce Federation estimates Nordea's figures are a little high.
"Our figures show that Finnish consumers spend about 190 euros each on Christmas. It depends how you calculate it," Pekkala said.
