New York
CNN
—
Stores are drowning in a glut of merchandise this holiday season, keeping the discounts fast and furious in the runup to Christmas.
And the deals are only getting juicier.
So if you have the patience and the willpower to wait to grab a few bargains for yourself, you’ll be richly rewarded.
“The better deals are always in the last week before Christmas,” said Marshal Cohen, chief retail industry adviser for market research firm NPD. But for the very best deals, he advises to wait until “right after Christmas.”
The Saturday before Christmas — also known as Super Saturday — is typically the busiest shopping day of the November-December gift-buying period. With Christmas Day falling on a Sunday, and Christmas Eve falling on the preceding Saturday, Super Saturday this year is on Dec. 17th. More than 158 million consumers are estimated to shop that day, according to the National Retail Federation.
Shoppers have only completed half their gift purchasing so far, the NRF estimates. With eight days to go until Christmas Day, and drop-dead shipping deadlines approaching, people have a lot more buying to do.
Whether consumers will show up in force during the final push remains to be seen. The government reported Thursday that retail sales slowed in November, the start of the holiday shopping season.
“This year is very unique. Consumers are very cautious. They’re dealing with inflation and tighter budgets impacting their ability to spend,” said Adam Davis, managing director at Wells Fargo.
As consumers carefully plan their year-end discretionary spending, Davis said budgeting for travel and entertainment is also cutting into their budgets.
“All of these dynamics will benefit consumers because retailers are so overstocked,” he said. “There’s going to be a big push this weekend by retailers that have excess inventory to sell, and sell at any cost, because they want to start 2023 leaner and cleared out of the glut, especially if the economic headwinds get worse.”
It’s also costly for retailers to sit on an oversupply of merchandise for too long. Retailers who store merchandise in their own warehouse and distribution centers have a finite amount of space to work with, with some wiggle room to accommodate excess…
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