Shoppers’ creed: ‘No deal, no sale’
Post-Christmas shoppers hit the malls to buy what they didn’t get for the holiday, and they were still looking for bargains.
Big bargains. Analyst Marshal Cohen of the NPD Group said consumers who had gotten used to drastic discounts offered during the regular holiday shopping season were expecting the same and more.
On the day after Christmas, shoppers were finding “a lot of 40% [off] deals” Cohen said, but not the 70% off they were looking for.
“The psychology right now is ‘No deal, no sale,’” he said. “At 50% off, consumers are not going to go crazy.”
Figures for the day after Christmas, traditionally one of the year’s busiest shopping days, were not immediately available.
Cohen said sales for the week ended Sunday were up more than 3% from the previous week, continuing a positive trend for retailers this year. He did not, however, expect a blockbuster post-Christmas period.
The after-Christmas season historically is a time when consumers return unwanted gifts, stop thinking about others and start thinking more about what they want and didn’t receive.
But this year 46% of U.S. consumers already shopped for themselves before Christmas, up from a typical 25%, Cohen said.
The reason, he said: “This year there was more product on sale and the sales were deeper than last year.”
But out in the malls Monday, there were plenty of shoppers who continued to snatch up bargains for themselves and family members and seemed satisfied with the level of discounts in many shops.