<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1664908153531,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000168-ed7d-d9d9-a9ec-ff7daffb0002","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1664908153531,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000168-ed7d-d9d9-a9ec-ff7daffb0002","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_64908142", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1110932"} }); ","_id":"00000183-a442-d714-a783-acd34eff0000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedRetailers are expected to start the holiday shopping season earlier this year in an effort to sell excess inventory and get ahead of any recession.
Retailers are trying to minimize the pain from inflation, which is punching in at an annual rate of more than 8% and has caused shoppers to pare back spending. Sellers also fear that they have limited time before the labor market weakens and undercuts household purchasing power.
As a result, retailers are aiming to commence the holiday shopping season early, furthering a trend in recent years toward early Christmas sales, said Mark Mathews, the National Retail Federation’s vice president of research development and industry analysis.
JOB OPENINGS PLUMMET BY MORE THAN A MILLION IN SIGN OF SLOWDOWN
“In the past, we had thought about the holiday season starting with Black Friday, but really, many shoppers are shopping well before that for Christmas — into October,” Mathews told the Washington Examiner.
In 2011, just over half of consumers said they had started their shopping by early November, according to a survey compiled by NRF and Prosper Insights and Analytics. By last year, that number had ballooned to 61%.
Holiday sales will likely increase between 4% and 6% this year, Deloitte said in its annual holiday retail forecast. Overall, the firm projects holiday sales will total $1.45 trillion to $1.47 trillion during the November to January time frame.
Walmart has noticed the trend of earlier shopping and has begun capitalizing on it. For example, Laura Rush, senior vice president of electronics, toys, and seasonal for Walmart, explained that more than half of the company’s shoppers will begin buying goods for the holidays as soon as October. As a result, this year, the company announced its list of top toys in August so families would have time to make the purchases.
Retailers are also looking to clear out goods. Many stores have excess inventory, Mathews explained.
The issue gained national attention over the summer when Target said it had a glut of inventory and would have to mark down certain products and cancel orders. As a result, it predicted weaker short-term profits, causing its stock to tumble.
“The stuff needs to be cleared off of shelves, warehouses are relatively full across the industry, the cost of keeping those in warehouses has increased, so really, the onus is on retailers to just move all of that stock that maybe hasn’t been selling that well by discounting it heavily and letting consumers clear the shelves and make way for new merchandise that’s arriving for the holidays,” Mathews said.
Retailers are more likely to promote in-store sales this year, too, following two seasons limited by the pandemic and then supply chain problems.
Mathews said consumers will spring for presents, decorations, and other holiday necessities even as their budgets are strained by inflation.
He pointed out that despite the country’s soaring inflation, consumers are protecting “essential spending.”
“They’re saving money on flights and other things … so they can protect essentials, and one of the things that the consumers tell us is that spending on your loved ones for the holidays is absolutely an essential purchase,” he said.
Retailers are hoping to capitalize quickly, aware that the economy could deteriorate in the months ahead as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates in a bid to slow economywide spending and bring down inflation.
“They do want to capture the holiday budget dollars early because they see the Fed raising rates, they see interest rates on credit cards higher, and they also worry about the potential for the unemployment rate to rise,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial.
“This is an orchestrated plan to capture holiday sales early on in the event that the economy slows in a more material way as we get to November and December,” she added.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Krosby said that in the past, retailers usually gave Halloween its own shelf space, but she expects that this year consumers will see shelves that will have Thanksgiving and Christmas items sitting alongside Halloween goods and decorations.
