Dec 26, 2007 7:10 pm US/Central
Cashing In On After Christmas Clearance Sales
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
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According to the National Retail Federation, consumers were expected to spend a total of $26.3 billion in gift cards this holiday season.
CBS
The day after Christmas is one of the busiest shopping days of the season, with lots of consumers getting up early hoping to cash in on some deals.
According to a national survey, about one in five consumers are planning to shop at some point.
The holiday season accounts for up to 30 percent of annual stores sales. Retailers are still counting on consumers to boost lack-luster holiday sales.
Many stores opened up early on Wednesday, trying to salvage so far dismal holiday sales. National reports show spending increased but it was not what retailers were hoping for.
"Basically grown about 2 and a half percent from what I understand, some estimates as high as 3 and a half. But that's the lower end of what expectations were, and so while sales haven't declined, its not been a year to get excited about," said John Sailors, an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of St. Thomas.
The retail news wasn't all that great for hometown discount chain Target. They expect store sales for the month of December to be relatively flat from a year ago, which means they can't make up for a decline in sales for the week after Thanksgiving.
"I tend to spend less cause with everything going on as it is right now," said Shopper Heather Junkert. "I did wait until towards Christmas as long as I could to holiday shop for better deals."
There are a number of reasons consumers are not opening up their pocketbooks as much retailers would like them to.
"The subprime crisis, rising energy costs, a lot of consumers have a lot of uncertainty and insecurity about their economic situation and the retailers sensed that and started discounting early," said Sailors.
Experts say Dec. 26 starts a new phase of the holiday shopping season.
"Its one of our busiest weeks that we will have all year long, so foot traffic today has been really, really good," said Bill Sprattler, store manager at Macy's in Minneapolis. "But there's also a lot of customers bringing in their gift cards."
Retailers are hoping gift cards pump up their holiday sales.
According to the National Retail Federation, consumers were expected to spend a total of $26.3 billion in gift cards this holiday season. Gift cards are also the way to go of those who want a good deal.
"A lot of consumers received gift cards, yesterday, and now they're going into stores and finding even better bargains then they would have the day before," said Sailors.
A local company is also reaping huge rewards in gift cards. Archway Marketing Services in Rogers, Minn. is one of the nation's leading gift card distributors. They processed more than 240 million cards last year.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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