Retailer's Christmas Performance Post-Recession
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Retailers post-recession
Things are looking good for retailers. With the Christmas season just ending, many retailers were worried that they would have much more depressed sales numbers than ever. The recession was weighing heavily on everyone's mind and stores were bracing for a lagging season. A Christmas miracle happened for them though - shoppers appear to have used last-minute shopping techniques. These last-minute sales caused retailers' numbers to reach higher than predicted.
Namely there were two things that caused the last minute rush: 1) Shoppers procrastinating and waiting for last-minute super-specials; 2) the East Coast's snowstorm that hampered some shoppers plans forcing them to shop in a hurry. Although things are looking up, true numbers won't be available until the week after Christmas. That's when experts officially close the books on the holiday season and assess performance.
The procrastinators weigh in
David Bassuk, managing director of AlixPartners, said, "The procrastinators were really out in force. But I think retailers needed to be more aggressive to fight for those sales. A lot of people are still willing to hold out until after Christmas because the deals weren't as good." For example, Joe Roberts of Madison, Wisconsin, purchased a PlayStation 3 for his son. He waited to shell out the $300 cost due to the recession. Roberts is self-employed as a designer of manufacturing equipment whose wife most likely will lose her job soon. He said, "I don't feel good about our outlook." There were millions of procrastinators shopping this season and they brought the last minute surge retailers were looking for. … click here to read the rest of the article titled “Retailer s Christmas Performance Post-Recession“
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