Britt Beemer
Britt Beemer
advised aggressive clients consumers extremely less margin money otherwise retail retailers shopping spend super thanksgiving
I see an extremely promotional shopping environment. I've advised my retail clients to be super aggressive Thanksgiving weekend. Retailers don't want to do it from a margin perspective, but otherwise they won't see shoppers in stores. Consumers have less money to spend and they'll take their 'less money' elsewhere.
consumers drop felt gas given month negative prices season selling shopping spirit sustain throughout
Only a month ago, I felt we could see the first negative selling season in over 20 years, but the drop in gas prices has given consumers a newfound shopping spirit that should sustain them throughout the month of December.
apparel benefit cause colder completed created dollars excitement form holiday hot percent research sales shopping spent start top watch weather weekend
Electronics is particularly hot cause there is nothing else that has created much excitement for consumers. Our research indicates that 44 percent of shoppers have completed their holiday shopping and about 20 percent still have to start it. This weekend we think more dollars will be spent overall. Apparel sales could benefit form colder weather but watch out for electronics to come out on top again.
lowest numbers shopping thanksgiving
These Thanksgiving shopping numbers will be the lowest in a decade,
abandon bought brand consumers higher means number products third
I think at least a third of consumers that previously bought her products will abandon the brand. A number higher than that means the brand is dead.
christmas good last similar store
J.C. Penney will probably be the most promotional store this year, similar to last year, and they'll probably have a good Christmas because of it.
consumers
I think consumers want to see a choice.
chains consumers couple last tried trying
Over the last couple years, chains have tried to do something different -- they're trying to give consumers a different look, a different style.
christmas decided flat good last luxury past people sales spending stores traffic vacation weekend year
Overall, the moderate-priced stores such as J.C. Penney, Sears and Wal-Mart had good traffic levels. We think luxury sales were probably flat this past weekend because more people said they decided to go away on vacation before Christmas this year than last year. So this could have impacted spending on other high-end items.
companies definitely fighting lower profits retailers today
Retailers are fighting lower profits than in years past. The industry's is definitely more competitive today and companies have to do what they can to not take unnecessary markdowns.
doomed next quarter year
I would say that the first quarter of next year probably has already been doomed by this episode,
career employees everybody late looking loses retail sector starting stopped temporary until
Starting in the late 1980s, employees and prospective employees in the retail sector stopped looking at retail as a career opportunity. They look at it as a temporary stopover until something better comes along. When this happens, everybody loses -- employees, customers, stores, etc.
removal retail strength
Some of the this may be attributed to the removal of the quotas and some to the strength of retail sales.
charged customer measures retailers soon struggle surprised tougher
I won't be surprised if a day comes very soon when the customer is charged $5 for every return. On the one hand, tougher measures frustrate the consumer. But retailers also don't want to struggle with unnecessary discounts.