Shops busiest day.

DervProf

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

So what exactly is it that you object to?

Being told contradictory news. Why would they tell us one thing one day, then contradict it the next ? That's the sort of thing politicians and salemen get up to, not what I want from the media.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Do you not believe that retail activity has been high?

I don't know what to believe. If retail sales are high, tell me. The next day, if you tell me that retail sales weren't so high, but are now, why should I trust what you say ? (When I say "you", I'm referring to the news media).

Were pre-Christmas sales up or down, high or low ? They were and they weren't, according to what I`ve read/heard.

DervProf

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Are the commentators discussing retail sales activity engaging in some form of retail ramping?

That's the conclusion I'm coming to, based of the information I`ve seen.

DervProf

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Do you think an increase in retail sales, and the economic and employment gains that come with it, is somehow a bad thing?

No, as long as those retail sales are mainly a result of what people have earned, not what they think they might earn.

halight

I read that many people did there christmas shopping online. Then the snow came and there items did not get to them. Not wonting to let people down at Christmas by not having a gift to give them they then went out to the shops and got them the same gift that Thayer had ordered for them. When there online order dose turn up they intend to send it back.
This year it was said was going to be a bumper year for online shopping.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

DervProf wrote: »

Being told contradictory news. Why would they tell us one thing one day, then contradict it the next ? .

At a guess because they're working on incomplete information in a rapidly changing situation.

Online sales and deliveries disrupted by extreme weather.

Distribution of products to shops and retail opening hours disrupted by extreme weather.

Normal shopping patterns and days disrupted by extreme weather.

My opinion is that we had the worst December weather in a century, large parts of the country suffered prolonged and severe travel disruption. So we should have had a pretty poor trading season.

But I think the shoppers have (somewhat surprisingly) come out in force since the weather cleared, and it won't be as bad as previously feared. Perhaps even quite good... And the media coverage mostly reflects that.

As the situation changes, the coverage changes. What you'd expect from the news really, and certainly no indicator of a hidden ramping agenda.

michaels

I think there is a lot of VAT ramping going on and that the sale discounts are being held back to catch the gullible who can't see that an extra 10% off might be more valuable than a 2.5% vat increase and it seems to be working.

I also join those who can't see where the extra spending power is coming from - incomes are stagnant, price are rising hence ral incomes are falling and supposedly credit is contracting. I guess funds are coming in to the economy from Govt borrowing and potentially savings being drawn down.

Aberdeen is supposedly the best place to live in Scotland based on a number of indicators includign the climate - wow the rest of Scotland must be grim.

pqrdef

Some economist was pointing out last year that the annual orgy of Christmas gift shopping is really an annual orgy of destruction of value, as we all go and waste too much hard-earned money buying people junk that they don't want and don't need.

So who benefits? If we spent the money on ourselves, we'd be better off because we'd have stuff we want instead of the stuff we get given. And industry and the retail sector would be no worse off, so long as the same money gets spent one way or another.

SingleSue

Well, my family contributed to the sales yesterday.....two of my boys spent their Christmas money (and some pocket money), all £60 of it.

I spent £12.

We're big spenders here.......hehe.

DervProf

SingleSue wrote: »

Well, my family contributed to the sales yesterday.....two of my boys spent their Christmas money (and some pocket money), all £60 of it.

I spent £12.

We're big spenders here.......hehe.

That's £72 more than me. :money:

DervProf

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

At a guess because they're working on incomplete information in a rapidly changing situation.

If the information is incomplete, why do they bother broadcasting it, or if they do, tell us that the information can't be relied upon ? It certainly sounded like they were telling me that shops made up for the bad weather in the last few days before Christmas. A couple of days later I`m told that retailers had a disasterous Christmas. I was not told that they based their reporting on incomplete information.

The point I`m making is that a lot of what we hear in the news should be taken with a pinch of salt. I know someone who once was reported in the news as being the partner of one of the most overweight people in Britain. I watched the news report, and thought that this overweight person had a partner. The truth is that the news organisation asked friends of the overweight person if they wouldn't mind pretending to be the partner for a news interview. Most people that watched that news article were being lied to.

So, they tell us that the shops are doing well in the sales. How can I believe that ?