Get ready for holiday merchandise to hit store shelves earlier than usual this year, and for retailers to roll out seasonal promotions well before temperatures drop. Discounted pricing once reserved for Black Friday and Cyber Monday is now going into effect in early October.
“Holiday creep,” the term for when retailers start selling holiday-themed items before the traditional start of the season, is a phenomenon that’s been at play for years, as retailers try to get a jump-start on sales.
This year, given that the window between Thanksgiving and Christmas is almost one week shorter compared with last, stores will have even less time to clear merchandise from shelves and capture consumers’ dollars. To make up for that time, they’re hosting holiday sales events as early as the beginning of October, before the leaves have even started to fall in many places.
For example, Wayfair is hosting its seasonal sales event, Way Day, on October 5 through October 9. Target Circle Week runs from October 6 through October 12, and Amazon Prime Big Deals Day will be held on October 8 and 9.
Walmart this year released its “Top Toys List” on September 9-15, to start tempting customers weeks before Santa’s arrival. “‘Tis the season for toys!” read a press release announcing the list.
“It’s been an ongoing retail movement over the last few years of bringing sales forward, it’s ‘holiday creep,’ or ‘Black October’ — whatever you want to call it,” said Adam Davis, managing director of Wells Fargo retail finance, told CBS MoneyWatch. “Retailers are trying to maximize sales by elongating the season to get as much share of wallet as possible.”
Read more at CBSnews.com
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