Tag Archives: National Retail Federation

Haggling is New Business Mode

Consumerism, , ,
Black Friday
Black FridayDa

Consumers are becoming bolder.  Since they have access to prices of the same item in other stores at their fingertips due to smartphones, they are using this is as a bargaining tool.  Rather than getting hot under the collar about this, some companies are following the old adage, ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’ and using this to their advantage.  For example, during the holiday season Best Buy, invited their customers to come bargain with them on items, as long as they provided proof of lower prices.  Other stores are doing the same – although they might not be advertising this outright.

Still, employers are actually now training their staff in the art of making deals.  Bargaining still has to be conducted with style.  As VP for Consumer Strategy and Insights at Daymon Worldwide, Virginia Morris notes, it must be “consumer-initiated,” and offers made need to be reasonable and done in a polite manner.  And the customer realizes also that the store does not want to lose their custom.  So they will try to be accommodating as much as possible, should the haggle be reasonable.

It seems a lot of work is still needed if the US is going to recover its peak on shopping sales from last year.  According to figures from the National Retail Federation, even though stores were open for four days over the Black Friday-Thanksgiving time span, sales dropped 2.9 percent from last year’s figure to $57.4bn.  It should be noted that this figure is the first decrease in seven years since the Federation has been estimating spending.

So what else are stores trying in the hope of drawing in potential customers?  Leigh’s Fashions in Breton Village were handing out glasses of wine or cups of coffee in an attempt to de-stress the consumer shopping experience.  According to one of the store’s co-owners, Rebecca Weirda, they did this in an attempt to distinguish their store from the mall experience.  They also offer free wrapping services and shopping parties during December.

The week following Black Friday the amount of store shoppers dropped by nearly 22 percent.  However, economically, this figure does not account for those who are shopping online.  Still, the figure is tough for those retailers who anticipate making 40 percent of their revenue in the last two months of the year.

Less Spending Predicted this Holiday Season

Economy, , ,
The NRF is Predicting Slower Spending this Holiday Shopping Season

The largest retail trade organization in the world, the National Retail Federation, announced on Tuesday that the economy will most likely see a rise in holiday sales this coming winter of only 4.1 percent, a number reflecting slower growth than what was seen in the past two years.

The prediction states that retail sales in November and December, normally the strongest months for retail shopping, will be approximately $586.1 billion, a rise of 4.1 percent over last year’s sales. Contrast this number with the 5.6 percent increase in sales in 2011, and 5.5 percent in 2010, and you can see why retailers are worried about the future.

To understand the importance of this number, which is one of the most-watched benchmarks for the health of the economy, just consider that holiday sales which take place almost exclusively in November and December make up as much as one-third of annual sales. Combine that with the fact that 70 percent of the US economy is made up of retail sales, and it is easy to see how the NRF forecast and inspire or frighten retailers, economists and investors.

What is holding back consumers this year is lack of confidence. Will legislators agree to turn away from the “fiscal cliff” of across-the-board spending cuts scheduled for January 2, 2013, not to mention tax hikes for everyone, or will the country head straight over the side?

“It’s the uncertainty about where the economy is going, the uncertainty at the federal level about the fiscal cliff, the absence of a path forward from the president and the Congress,” NRF President Matthew Shay commented.