ho ho hope?

According to an article published October 7th 2010 in the Los Angeles Times by Andrea Chang:

There is some hope for retailers this coming holiday season. The retail trade group released a report this Wednesday projecting a 2.3% increase of retail sales reaching $447.1 compared to last years holiday season. The increase is considered modest since it falls under the 10 year average of increase of 2.5%. However, although the fore casted increase may be lower than 2.5%, it is still better than last year’s holiday sales increase of 0.4% and the 3.9% decrease experienced in the holiday season 2008.

It’s not surprising that analysts are only projecting a modest increase of sales. Consumers are still concerned about the unknown path of the economy leading to their hesitance to spend money.

In addition, the raise of unemployment in a turbulent economy means that people are forced to adapt to a life of careful spending. These days many consumers will choose between the seasons latest hot item and paying the bills. It’s not easy to completely remove the shopping habits set in American society and retailers are hopeful to gain on that.

I believe that as last year, retailers will do anything they can to seduce the consumer to their stores. Record high competition will prove that the coming holiday season will exceed analysts expectations, and perhaps generate further hope in the troubled retail industry. The competition is rough, but the gains are still high.

Written by Michael Milner

Article source:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-holiday-forecast-20101007,0,2818101.story