Battle of the Bottom Line: Retailers Go Head to Head for Holiday Shopping Dollars
In the battle for holiday shopping dollars, the early bird gets the worm. And with spending expected to rise more than 4 percent this year according to the National Retail Federation, retailers are doing everything they can to draw in consumers and build loyalty before this year’s holiday shopping melee.
And there’s a lot at stake—according to some estimates, the holiday season accounts for as much as 40 percent of total annual sales with many retailers still in the red before shoppers descend on their local malls on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving).
But times are changing. Despite improving confidence in the economy, consumers might still be feeling a bit wary about opening up their wallets and going overboard this holiday season thanks to sluggish economic growth and the fact that millions of Americans remain unemployed.
That’s meant retailers have had to get much more creative when it comes to pitching their wares to consumers, running advertisements and establishing holiday displays earlier than ever. By mid-October, Target had already started running its holiday commercial, a move that the industry hadn’t seen before.