Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Dismal Xmas Season

First off. "Xmas." Horrid. It is the Christmas Season. At worst the Holiday Season. Good, that's out of the way. We aren't talking about anything but raw marketing and consumerism.

Holiday Spending Seen Rising 11 Percent, Accenture Estimates - 07 Oct 2013 02:58 PM U.S. consumers will spend 11 percent more this holiday season, starting with a jump in shoppers on the day after Thanksgiving, while looking for discounts in stores and online, according to a study by consulting firm Accenture Plc. During the seasonal crunch, U.S. shoppers are forecast to spend an average of $646 on gifts, compared with $582 they planned to spend on average last year, according to a study released by Dublin-based Accenture. Of those surveyed, 20 percent said they planned to spend more than last year while 62 percent said they will spend the same.
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Holiday Spending Plans Plummet, Signaling Dismal Retail Season - Nov. 19, 2008 ANALYSIS by GARY LANGER Americans plan to cut back drastically on holiday spending this year, a dismal prospect for retailers in their most critical season. Fifty-one percent in this ABC News poll say they'll spend less this year than last on holiday gifts, matching the sharpest consumer retreat in polls dating back 23 years -- last seen ahead of the dreadful Christmas retail performance just after the 1990-91 recession. More, 68 percent, say they'll wait for sales before buying holiday items, even if that means missing out on things they really want -- 26 points higher than in a 1990 poll. And Americans on average say they'll spend $716 on holiday gifts, the least in polls since 1989 and more than 40 percent below its level three years ago.
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Gallup: Holiday spending to dive Paul Ausick, 24/7 Wall St. 12 p.m. EST November 17, 2013 There's hope 2013 will be like last year, when consumers spent more than they planned. In 2012, consumers spent an average of $786 on holiday gifts, but if the latest poll from Gallup is correct they'll be sitting on the wallets this year. Americans say they plan to spend an average of just $704 on holiday giving in 2013. Of course, American consumers last year said they planned to spend $770 and ended up spending more. Retailers can only hope that the pattern repeats itself this year. When asked to compare planned spending for this year with last year, 57% of those surveyed said they planned to spend about the same amount as last year, while 26% said they planned to spend less and 15% said they planned to spend more.
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Somebody is going to be correct. The truth is freaking easy. There are 6 fewer days this season including one entire less weekend.

5 comments:

Stagflationary Mark said...

Holiday Spending Seen Rising 11 Percent

That's frickin' hilarious.

Stagflationary Mark said...

Employment Cost Index vs. Holiday Sales Prediction (Musical Tribute)

Cinco-X said...

Bitcoin Just Waterfalled

RiF must've finally cashed out of Bitcoins...

Cinco-X said...

Blame Rich, Overeducated Elites as Our Society Frays

h/t Bubblisimo Gerkinov

The concept of "elite overproduction" is an interesting one. I think you'll find that this cycle of overproduction correlates nicely with the rise of F.I.R.E. Basically F.I.R.E. expanded to provide jobs for the kids of elites and wannabe elites from the lower and middle classes.

Rob Dawg said...

Indeed.

FIRE grew when the idea of producing was displaced by the concept of exploiting systemic inefficiencies. At first it worked as the inefficiencies were wrung out but then success bred protectionism. Now we are stuck with the flaws.