The figures in for retail same-store sales reveal that it is the worst growth in 12 years.
Already the big retailers - especially Wal-Mart - have started their holiday sales far before the usual "Black Friday."
If you sell retail items over the Internet, you need to strongly consider discounting this year as a strategy. While it will cut into your margins and profits, it will still help you to grow and move merchandise.
There are going to be tremendous price pressures this year during the holiday season, and we all need to be aware of that as a reality that must be dealt with and responded to.
Even the recently strong luxury clothing sector underperformed this quarter, showing consumers are very skittish with the economic uncertainties related to housing, credit and the price of oil. This consumer psychology must be considered for this season.
Unless we have an unusual situation where we know for sure our base customer will continue buying strongly during the holiday season, we need to think in terms of discounting in a big way now.
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