Retailers Respond Earlier to Consumers, A Continuing Trend

The trend continues for retailers trying to entice consumers with Black Friday ads and even sales, according to recently developing data and news media reports.

The Journal Sentinel, part of the USA Today Network family of news operations, reported that Target has released their Black Friday ads early this year, following a leak of other retailers’ ads. Those leaks included JC Penny and Kohls, who are more traditional brick-and-mortar retailers trying to respond to recent online mega competitors like Amazon. Those retailers worry for good reason, considering that consumers have decided overwhelmingly to continue buying many products online, particularly during the holidays. New data also shows that even more retailers are going to do the same this year.

According to reports, Target released their ads on Monday morning. CBS News reported that the retailers are intentionally releasing ads and sales to entice customers early this year. Black Friday and holiday sales in general represent a majority of many retailers’ annual revenues, so the trends of releasing ads and sales early and opening earlier, as JC Penny will reportedly do on Thanksgiving day, will likely continue to be a viable strategy as long as consumers continue to both pursue the sales and find convenient shopping online throughout the calendar year as a whole.

As the United States economy continues to bounce back from the historic recession that began in 2008 after major financial meltdowns at banks, firms, the major American auto industry, housing industries and all industries that were impacted down the line, consumers in the U.S. continue to spend on holiday deals but research also suggests that millennials may be “deal shoppers” in the U.S. economy in general as a by-product of adjustment to that recession era economy, like many folks were after the great depression and other economic hard times.

The CBS report noted that figures from the National Retail Federation predicting a four percent increase in overall consumer holiday spending compared to a year prior to 2017. Some experts are predicting the average money spent on gifts this year by consumers will be around just under $1,000 according to the report.

Some of the examples of deals at retailers include the following at Target:

• Sony PlayStation 4 console, priced at $199.99 (around $100 in savings).
• KitchenAid Ultra Power Plus mixer priced at $249.99 (around $100 in savings).
• Jetson V12 hoverboard priced at $199 (around $100 in savings).

Many of the deals posted online at Black Friday deal sites that track the releases of ads include many video game console deals as well such as Xbox 360s. Electronics and home appliances are still popular deals for Black Friday shoppers.