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Panic Sale

There’s panic in the retail world as one of the biggest shopping weeks of the year came up empty … forcing stores to go back to the gimmick well and cut prices on already deeply discounted items even further. According to ShopperTrak – a leading retail research company – in-store…

There’s panic in the retail world as one of the biggest shopping weeks of the year came up empty … forcing stores to go back to the gimmick well and cut prices on already deeply discounted items even further.

According to ShopperTrak – a leading retail research company – in-store retail sales declined by 3.1 percent for the week ending December 22.  Meanwhile traffic in these brick-and-mortar retail stores was down 21.2 percent from 2012.  That’s terrible news because aside from the day after Thanksgiving (a.k.a. “Black Friday”) – the Friday, Saturday and Sunday before Christmas typically represent the busiest shopping days of the year.

“Bad weather throughout the country kept some shoppers away from stores,” ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin said. “This past week was their final opportunity to complete their holiday shopping before Christmas – and though many did finish making their purchases, retailers did not see as many shoppers as last year.”

However in an interview with Marketwatch Martin acknowledged “we’ve been seeing downward traffic for the whole season.”

In addition to less traffic and fewer purchases, the items being bought by shoppers are often heavily discounted – which eats into profits.

“The discounts are heavier than last year,” Martin said.  “(They are) headwinds for the sales growth.”

The bad news comes on the heels of a ho-hum Black Friday – which saw sales decline by 2.9 percent from 2012 (the first decline since 2009).

“Retailers didn’t get what they wanted from Black Friday and they will need to make it up in the next three weeks,” a Bloomberg retail analyst said three weeks ago.

They didn’t …

The National Retail Federation had projected 3.9 percent growth for the duration of the holiday season, although at this point that figure seems like a pipe dream.

Why do these numbers matter?  Consumer spending accounts for roughly 70 percent of America’s gross domestic product – and the holiday season typically accounts for anywhere from 20-40 percent of a retailer’s annual sales.

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13 comments

Frank Pytel December 26, 2013 at 2:51 pm

ObamaFailsAgain

Reply
Wake Me When The Riots Start December 26, 2013 at 4:38 pm

Don’t leave out the sorry fucks of Congress while we’re at it!

Reply
Frank Pytel December 27, 2013 at 5:35 am

CORRECT!!

Reply
Distillers of America December 26, 2013 at 4:39 pm

Pyteldrunkagain

Reply
Ralph Hightower December 26, 2013 at 5:14 pm

Blame the severe weather on global warming…

Reply
Jackie December 26, 2013 at 7:23 pm

It’s not Obama, it’s not the weather. It’s internet sales finally taking it’s toll.

Reply
Robert December 26, 2013 at 7:52 pm

How convenient to leave out the totals of internet sales, which were up from last year.

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Fits Aint no Republican December 26, 2013 at 8:22 pm

Hey my friend,you’re ruining the narrative here.Dont confuse these boys with the facts!

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Robert December 26, 2013 at 7:55 pm

And you fail to mention that OVERALL retail sales were up in the entire holiday time frame by nearly 3%.

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Cleveland Steamer December 27, 2013 at 2:07 am

Short season is a big reason, imho we as a population tire of the whole holiday trend. If you want to bitch about the war on Chritmas, start with the folks that profit the most from it.

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Pizza Face December 27, 2013 at 10:11 am

Panic? Came up empty? The only down figure I see is store walk-throughs. And that figure is down about as much as internet sales were up.

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xyzzy December 27, 2013 at 2:05 pm

Contrary to popular belief, more money made by the wealthier members of society does NOT filter into the economy as it does when the middle class/ lower class gets more money in their checks. When prices rise to increase corporate profit, what paychecks remain (what wasn’t outsourced) don’t go as far, and there is far less discretionary spending, excepting credit purchases. With credit purchases, there’s a whole other set of issues, including default and reduced future spending.

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SCBlueWoman December 27, 2013 at 4:49 pm

Yeah. The media is reporting that but economist put out a report today that says sales were up 3.5% over last year and exactly what they predicted. Keep feeding the sheep and not living in the real world. Internet sales were up 16.5% too. Yes. It’s shitty in America.

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