Holiday season is on its way, though for many stores it has already been here for a couple of months. Sometimes I wonder if retail marketers have a different calendar than the rest of us. What do you think?
Why the rush
Shopping in mid-September I was already seeing Halloween decorations. Then when Halloween weekend arrived I began to see Christmas decorations, I wondered “did Thanksgiving happen and I missed it?” Stores move the holidays right along at a speed I can barely keep up with.
Why is there this need to prepare consumers for the Holidays months in advance? I’m pretty sure we can remember them all on our own, maybe a little prompting on the first of the month would be appreciated.
An admirable exception
There is one store I have been impressed with as they have been able to resist decorating their store windows before Black Friday, (the day after Thanksgiving and one of the biggest shopping days of the year). That store is Nordstrom, which will not have its décor “speaking to the season of getting together” up until the actual holiday season officially arrives. Unfortunately not too many other stores are following suit.
Rushing more than decorations
Speaking of Black Friday, some stores including Macy’s, Target, and Kohls are going “all out” this year by opening up as early as midnight on Thanksgiving to kick off the holiday shopping season. “Who cares about friends and family, let’s get to the deals” is basically the mantra. I am ALL for shopping (trust me) but when did the holidays go from spending time with family to shopping at crazy hours of the night?
A mobile holiday season?
Mobile shopping and mobile payments combine ecommerce and in-store shopping. By all indications, 2011 will be the year for mobile shopping. Google projects that 15 percent of total search on Black Friday will come from mobile devices. Cell phones are the only interactive device you carry with you to the store, and they provide retailers the opportunity to provide discounts, deals, reviews, and special deals at the point of purchase.
Does it work?
I have often wondered if all the marketing pays off in the end. Looking at numbers from previous years., we see Business Insider reports that Black Friday 2010 lured 212 million shoppers up from 195 million in 2009. Spending also increased from $343.31 to $365.34. Online holiday shopping reached record levels in 2010. The answer appears to be a big yes. The deals, discounts and convenience of Black Friday seem to be paying off for all these big retailers.
What’s ahead?
Personally, I’d rather do my shopping away from the hustle and bustle of cheap deals and on my own calendar. Like many others, I also find that makes it easier for me to resist products I probably don’t even want and definitely don’t need. Then again, the holiday hype can make it seem as if it’s your patriotic duty to shop madly and help the economy. What about you? What will you be doing on Black Friday this season?
I will most certainly be avoiding physical stores this year! The crowds, the chaos, the noise, the pushing… Who needs it!
This year, finances are a bit tighter than last year so my shopping will be more intentional, with much less browsing, even for good deals. Most years, my shopping is a mix of local physical stores and online stores and I suspect that to be true this year as well. My focus this year is on finding the one perfect gift for every name on my list — and at a price that I can afford.