Let the pundits go crazy taking shots again that these figures, “Don’t matter.” They do. Get ready for a comeback, not to 2005-7 levels but to those who want them, the customers are out there. Shopping. Luxury. Premium.
The news over the weekend was the big blizzard that occured on the last weekend before Christmas. Shoppers in some areas stayed off the roads due to weather, in New Orleans and Dallas it was due to the big Cowboys-Saints match-up. Quick thoughts for retailers:
As each day gets closer to 6pm Christmas Eve the malls thin out from these types and you begin to notice more and more men – especially Christmas Eve when the malls are practically fueled by testosterone. Men can be the easiest to wait on this week because we just want to be a hero. Here are a few tips to help you sell to us this week.
The numbers are in and, guess what? Sales ROSE in November! In spite of repeated reports of how shoppers weren’t coming out. The Los Angeles Times this afternoon summed it up, “The government’s report came as a surprise but retail sales rose 1.3 percent last month, after a 1.1 percent October gain, the Commerce Department [...]
Retail is devolving down to the “deal,” “the bargain,” “the door-buster.” What magic is there to sell that? What experience for the gift-giver?
Take all retail holiday sales news with a grain of salt over the next five weeks. It isn’t going to be pretty but it pretty well isn’t going to be accurate either. Fight for your customers by focusing on them, not the news hounds looking to make holiday retail sales into the next American Idol skirmish.
My predictions for the stories you’ll see next week? Headlines announcing that retailers are nervous about the holiday shopping season and how Black Friday portends to a weak holiday season. How do I know this? Because that’s what has been covered the past TEN YEARS. You can read all about the five perennial bad stories of the holidays by downloading my free white paper with all the facts at http://www.retaildoc.com/holiday-sales/
