For more information on the following story, contact James Lowry at [email protected] or (765) 285-5180.
CONSUMERS CONTINUE TO PURCHASE CHRISTMAS GIFTS AT RECORD PACE
MUNCIE, Ind. -- Nothing can stop consumers from breaking new holiday sales records this year, says a Ball State University retail analyst.
A booming economy and deep discounts will send consumers racing to the nation's malls and online for Internet shopping right up until Christmas eve, said James Lowry, a marketing professor.
"Everything has come together to make this a great shopping holiday for both retailers and consumers," Lowry said. "You have an economy bolstered by low unemployment, low inflation, a booming stock market and rising consumer confidence."
Retailers did their job in promoting goods and then discounting heavily to attract droves of shoppers. With all that, no one should be surprised that sales are up significantly over last year, he said.
Sales for the 30-day holiday shopping season are expected to hit $184 billion, up about six percent from last year's 28-day period, according to the National Retail Federation.
Internet shopping is projected to increase to $8 billion in the fourth quarter from $3.5 billion a year ago. Overall, web-based sales for the year will increase to $30 billion from $8 billion in 1998, according to Forrester Research.
Lowry believes shoppers will continue to drive to department stores, discount outlet stores or log on to the Internet in record numbers for the next two weeks.
"All things considered, numbers should be fairly stable because people are out there looking for bargains," he said. "You may even see an increase in sales before Christmas, indicating that late shoppers are getting into the Christmas spirit."
Consumers are the real winners during the shopping season as the war between department stores and discount chains continues, Lowry said.
Both types of retailers are offering deep discounts on brand-name items to attract consumers, creating a war zone that most shoppers are happy to navigate, he said.
"A recent survey found that most people will do the majority of their shopping at discount stores like Target and Wal-Mart with the department stores closely behind followed by speciality stores like The Gap," Lowry said. "Consumers know they'll get good quality merchandise at low prices at discount chains, but the department stores are fighting back with deep price cuts."
(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Lowry at [email protected] or (765) 285-5180. For more stories visit the Ball State University News Center at www.bsu.edu/news on the World Wide Web.)
Marc Ransford
12/10/99
# # #
RSS