Dan Rice, LSU Associate Professor, Department of Marketing
This year’s last-minute Christmas Eve shopping could be easier on your wallet than in the past. LSU Marketing Professor Dan Rice said procrastinators might actually find bargains today because foot traffic was down as much as 90 percent for some stores.
“A lot of the retailers are trying to make that up by offering more deals later into the season. So, you may actually be able, if you pay attention, to get some good deals still,” said Rice.
This year more retailers began Black Friday deals before and after the day after Thanksgiving to entice shoppers and in hopes of making up for lost sales earlier in the pandemic. Rice said overall this holiday season sales are up and down. He said online sales were thru the roof this year, as for stores….
“Stores that are brick and mortar that have things like curbside pick up or drive-thru pick up are typically doing considerably better on the order of about 30-percent better than brick and mortar stores that don’t have that,” said Rice.
The types of items in demand changed from in years past, Rice said athletic stores, bicycle shops, and home improvement stores are doing well. Other holiday staples however are not.
“Clothing sales are not as strong as they’ve been and in large part that’s because people aren’t looking for a whole lot of flashy new clothes, in particularly business clothes, if they’re working from home,” said Rice.
Rice said for many small retailers holiday sales will decide their fate after a rough year adapting to the pandemic.
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