Spending Remains Subdued for Holidays
With the exception of a few niches in holiday shopping, such as kid’s clothes and electronics like TV’s, DVD players and the such, holiday sales are expected to be not so good for this holiday season, which many have been glooming and dooming as one of the worst forecast sales seasons for the Christmas and holiday season in a while.
We have heard that one before though, but now we have legitimate reasons to believe it’s actually true at this juncture when the economy is in turmoil, and more than anything people are holding onto their money for fear of what tomorrow brings, of where the economy is going, the housing market, and the plethora of other financial challenges we have ahead of us today.
Early data that is traditionally compiled from reatailers suggests, as our headline shows, that some of the better areas of sales are to be seen and most likely at the end gathered, for the categories of kid’s clothes and electronics, which almost always seem to be a big seller around the holidays since we live in such a tech savvy and hungry world today.
They are showing that for this past weekend so far, sales may be down from last year, and that people also tend to stick to basic necessity types of gifts, such as clothing and other staples, instead of “luxury” items and other products that are considered something that is not really needed. However, one area that sticks out as sort of a luxury or niche market is the electronics area, which is enjoying a fairly stable season so far, considering the extenuating circumstances of this strained holiday shopping season thus far.
Honestly, I can personally attest to the fact that mine and my partner’s situation is not dire, however, I am partly in the business of sales, and have noticed that my sales have significantly declined from October to November, requiring us to re-prioritize our spending habits, which admittedly at one time were fairly liberal and carefree, and we are holding onto our money more than ever for fear that soon we may not even have an easy time making our mortage payments, which are funded by a joint effort, but are greatly supplemented by both of our sidelines which happen to be in sales of nonessential products, which are suffering big time right now.
