Tis the Season.

Shopping season is among us.

While fall and winter approach us we are reminded of the holidays that come with these changing seasons such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. For those of us that work in a retail store the holidays are not the first thing that come to mind. The chaos of holiday shoppers are what come to mind. Since when is Thanksgiving no longer about giving thanks but rather about the Friday that follows with mass amounts of shopping? In recent years we have seen the amount of Black Friday shoppers increase with store discounts everywhere around us. However, this year that will not be the case. Retailers are prepared for a rather difficult holiday season this year. Difficult because consumers are now trained to expect store discounts all the time, competitors are using competitive prices, and a economy that still isn't at it's greatest.

Less discounts.

This year, many retailers have vowed to cut back store promotions and discounts. In an article in the Fargo Forum written by Reuters Media they talked to a few major retailers and received some feedback. Nordstrom said that they had planned to cut back store discounts by 20% and will continue to decrease them for years to come saying they are going to focus on service and differentiated products instead. Abercrombie & Fitch and Aeropostale both said that they are going to have far less discounts as well. Their huge clearanced items happened to be logo centered apparel which needed to be rid of due to reduced customer demand. People are more opt to buy full priced items when they are not logo centered.

Price over everything.

Unfortunately consumers are still responding to price more than retailers want them to. In a study conducted it showed that 87% of Americans are still letting price determine what they will be purchasing this holiday season. American's have been so accustomed to discounted prices in recent years that they are trained to shop based on price rather than quality or service.

Works cited:
Reusters Media. "Retailers Gear up for What Could Be Difficult Holiday Shopping..." INFORUM. N.p., 05 Oct. 2015. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.
"File:Owl Shopping by Mimooh.svg." - Wikimedia Commons. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.