Retailers Offer Early Holiday Deals

Even though retailers are still wary of a repeat of 2008, which saw holiday sales drop for the first time on record, industry projections say that consumers will spend more this year, and that means earlier deals. According to The National Retail Federation, sales will increase 2.3 percent over last year, while retail analysts at IBISWorld are anticipating a 3.6 percent rise. As a result of increased consumer spending, holiday promotions began as far back as July, and could continue through the end of the year. Aggressive Christmas-in-July promotion campaigns were rolled out by Kmart, Sears, Toys ‘R’ Us, and Target, the latter of which slashed 40 percent off the price of 500 items. Retailers launch early-promotion campaigns to attract repeat business during the holiday shopping season, and also to stretch out the shopping season from July to December instead of November to December.