The days of Black Friday or post-Christmas day sales are, more or less, over. At a time of widespread inflation and tightening budgets, customers are increasingly waiting for a discount before buying anything while retailers are offering this them by a period of whether real or perceived rolling holiday sales.
One survey from earlier in the fall found that over 90% of shoppers look for discounts, coupons or cash-back rewards before making a purchase while that numbers is still at 82% for households making over $100,000 a year.
"These major shopping days are losing prominence as e-commerce becomes a more ubiquitous daily activity, and as consumers see discounts continuing throughout the full season," Adobe (ADBE) wrote in a statement accompanying a report showing that the period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday was expected to bring in only 16.3% of the total holiday spending season this year.
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This Is The Latest Sale You'll Be Able To Find At Target
Target (TGT) is the latest big-box chain to join in on the post-Christmas sales period. Known as the 'The Target Clearance Run,' the sale takes place until the end of the year and includes discounts of up to 50% on categories such as sleepwear, children's and adult toys, and beauty and lifestyle products.
Additional deals include buy-one-get-one-50%-off on board games, a $15 gift card for those who spend $50 on household cleaning products like tissues, paper towels, and cleaning products as well as $10 off for those who spend $50 on food and beverage same-day delivery.
"Our guests always look forward to post-holiday deals, whether they're looking to spend the gift cards they received as a holiday gift, restock their pantries after hosting for the holidays, or prepare for a New Year's celebration," Christina Hennington, Target's executive vice president and chief growth officer, said in a statement. "'The Target Clearance Run' is the perfect moment to do just that."
The chain is also characteristically using the sales period to promote its RedCard, a loyalty credit, and debit card program that gives those who use it 5% off all purchases.
Do All These Sales Mean The Economy Is Struggling?
Target is far from the only big-box retailer to offer post-Christmas discounts. Competitors such as Walmart (WMT), Amazon (AMZN) and even Costco (COST) have all rolled out their own versions of the post-holiday sale.
In some cases, extended sale periods are a specific strategy on behalf of the retailer to create a perception of gotta-have-them-now deals -- qualifiers like "up to" and "on some select merchandise" may allow retailers to discount just a few products by a small percentage but still draw in customers hungry for discounts.
But at the same time, other shoppers may indeed see more discounts on particular items like electronics -- after last year's pandemic-related disruptions to the supply chain, some retailers overcorrected with a larger supply and are now finding themselves with too much inventory they need to unload before the next year.
"The more sales merchandise that they move through now the better," Kristen Gall, president of the online coupon and cash-back site Rakuten, told the New York Times. "Because if you get caught holding a lot of inventory in January and February and consumers pull back because things feel significantly more recessionary, that’s where the worry comes in for retailers."
