Retailers intend to be open for longer and have planned to be aggressive with their advertising and discounts on the final weekend leading up to Christmas, Reuters reported. After Black Friday, this Saturday is set to be the second busiest shopping day of the holiday season. However, the quarterly Global Retail Manufacturers and Importers Survey done by Capital Business Credit, have expected that holiday sales to be the same or only slightly stronger than that posted last year.
The report said many Americans are being more cautious with the spending. With some not benefitting from the economic recovery and others spending on new cars, homes or appliances, a lot of Americans are either shopping less or purchasing more practical items which leaves less money for discretionary purchases.
Moody's Investors Service Senior Analyst Charles O'Shea was quoted as saying that shoppers will be seeing heavier promotions compared to last year. Although the promotions will pretty much happen across the board, he said the apparel stores would give the biggest discounts.
A new survey done by Ipsos/Reuters revealed that consumers will be spending a third less this year than what they spent in 2012 for items like jewelry, toys and electronics. Only 8% said they would be making more jewelry purchases, 13% on toys and 17% said they will spend more on electronics, the report said. However, the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers have said that for the month ending November 23, sales of major appliances went up 18.1%.
The report quoted Patty Edwards as saying, "Santa is still going to come, but the goodies in his bag are going to be slightly different. There's more of a focus on necessities. We're seeing more need-driven shopping than want-driven shopping.'" Edwards is the Managing Director of Investments for the Private Client Reserve at US Bank.
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