The crucial after-Christmas sales period is in full swing, and one Purdue retail expert says 2015 holiday sales should top last year’s by anywhere from 3 to 7 percent.
Retail analyst Richard Feinberg notes this year, lots of that shopping is driven by gift cards, the season’s most popular holiday gift item. He says for retailers, the cards are the gift that keeps on giving:
“Gift cards are not usually redeemed until after Christmas,” he says. “If the individual goes in with a $100 gift card, they’ll spend about $120, $125 dollars.”
The stretch between Christmas and New Year’s marks an important time for stores, who need to make way for the next year’s inventory:
“The period after Christmas and into January is critical for retailers,” Feinberg says. “It does no good for retailers to have merchandise on their shelves, so they have to do whatever they can to sell it to make sure they have cash for the spring season and the summer season.”
In fact, 10 to 15 percent of the total sales for the holiday season is done after Christmas. “Every percentage is significant these days given the competition these retailers face,” Feinberg says.
He says many retailers have already begun offering sales of up to 60 percent off items.
