X-Mas Retail Season.... Boom or Bust?

nearlynew

At least I get your attempts at humour cleaver.

nearlyrich

chucky wrote: »

i can't believe NearlyRich replied to NearlyNew!!

NearlyPoor will be next!!

That'll be me if they don't put the interest rates up soon :rotfl:

dopester

There are a lot of J-Lo-Mos (still in a Job with a Low interest mortgage) who think they have a lot of money to spend, so maybe Christmas trading won't be hit too badly.

I was out on Saturday and saw too many people buying pointless expensive stuff. (Woot! A £400 Miltek exhaust to replace a perfectly adequate working car exhaust)

nearlyrich wrote: »

Christmas is over rated, I like to get together with the family share a meal exchange modest gifts but the rampant consumerism I know goes on is not part of my life.

My hope is we might see a switch away from flashy or showy gifts to more practical / educational / useful ones. I'm half-expecting sales of expensive jewellery will be down, for example, this Christmas.

michaels

I can't see anything other than a bumper xmas - lots of vi talking up of the economy, good affordability for some, having a last splurge before bankruptcy for others and people who have paid off a bit of debt over the year thinking they have 'been good' and deserve spending a bit more...

However I am 100% sure that there will be '1 day only sales', media reports that shoppers are 'leaving it late this year in a game of chicken with retailers', that online retailers are having a bumper year and a couple of retailers who will genuinely have no choice but to slash prices before xmas but in general I think retailers will be tight with stock and make good profits a la next last year so footfall, yoy sales etc will not be good indicators of profitability.

fc123

michaels wrote: »

I can't see anything other than a bumper xmas - lots of vi talking up of the economy, good affordability for some, having a last splurge before bankruptcy for others and people who have paid off a bit of debt over the year thinking they have 'been good' and deserve spending a bit more...

However I am 100% sure that there will be '1 day only sales', media reports that shoppers are 'leaving it late this year in a game of chicken with retailers', that online retailers are having a bumper year and a couple of retailers who will genuinely have no choice but to slash prices before xmas but in general I think retailers will be tight with stock and make good profits a la next last year so footfall, yoy sales etc will not be good indicators of profitability.

The Special One Dayers are pre planned too.

I wouldn't compromise my position by posting the shop names publicly, but I have targets and under the target figure are written 'key' events such as Payday, or Halfterm...also competitors 25% off day specials etc.

They are all pre- planned. The discounts are already factored into the full selling prices. The 25% off special days aren't an indicator of anything economic at all. Please believe me. They are just targetting a different type of customer during that time.

We all know the discount New Year Party Dress customer is going to wait until 26 Dec...so we are ahead of her. As long as the customer buys what she wants and feels it's ''A bargain'' then we have done our job well.
A discount item in any sector isn't an indicator of economic boom or impending bust

I can only comment on my own sector with knowledge, but I know the same principles apply to other sectors too.

fc123

dopester wrote: »

There are a lot of J-Lo-Mos (still in a Job with a Low interest mortgage) who think they have a lot of money to spend, so maybe Christmas trading won't be hit too badly.

I was out on Saturday and saw too many people buying pointless expensive stuff. (Woot! A £400 Miltek exhaust to replace a perfectly adequate working car exhaust)



My hope is we might see a switch away from flashy or showy gifts to more practical / educational / useful ones. I'm half-expecting sales of expensive jewellery will be down, for example, this Christmas.

You will only know what the jewellrey retailer chooses to put out on a press release post Xmas though.

I will bet a 2 4 1 chain restaurant coupon that there will be a topical article in the mainstream press about the 50k cracker that sold or some other such tale...like a dress encrusted with 100k worth of gemstones. It's the PR depts doing their jobs not a sign that the wealthy have lost their minds on a meaningless spending spree.


There is a def trend towards homemade items and the like as they 'seem' to show more thought. Be prepared to receive a dressing table set made from upended loo roll insides a la Blue Peter 1975.....yes, I too made one for my mother...and, yes, she used it for about 6 months.

Thrugelmir

In the real world things are somewhat different. Whilst the recession may be over. We still have the pain to endure.

Begbies Traynor predicts Christmas ‘hell for high street’

During September 2009, 125 retail companies encountered critical problems in the month, up 37% from August. Begbies said it expected a “significant number” of those would enter into formal insolvency procedures within a year.
The fragility of the sector has been exposed again in recent weeks with Jessops and Robert Dyas owning up to problems. Blacks Leisure was forced to close 89 stores and seek protection from its creditors through a CVA, an increasingly common insolvency procedure.

Full article http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article6860061.ece

SingleSue

Cleaver wrote: »

I hate Christmas too.

I especially hate any office-based Christmas activity. The forced hilarity of the staff meal, secret santa, swapping pointless cards, planning the staff holidays, repeatingly telling people what your plans are. Makes me want to eat my own face.

I miss that so much.....made me feel like a normal person.

I will be spending exactly as I did last year - £15 max per child (cheaper if I can), £2-3 per niece and nephew, £5 on siblings and £10 max between my parents.

Any food treats will be got on Xmas Eve when they discount everything to silly pennies instead of stupid pounds...dinner is at my parents so no worries about that at all!

I tend to do Christmas for everyone including my contribution to food for less than £80.

treliac

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Mewbies tale of staff canteen misery is a world away from booking out a whole 4 star hotel and conference centre with open bars, fantastic food, bands, DJ's, rooms for the night, etc, which is what our company did last year. I suspect this year will be just as good.

Take it you work for a bank then?

SingleSue

Hehe Treliac, I used to go to work parties just like Hamish described and I have never worked for a a bank...except the rooms for the night, they had to be paid for by the staff wanting them unless the distance was so far that the transport was difficult to arrange for the company.

Some great nights had at those parties....and some weird and wonderful outfits too!