Post-Christmas Discounts Are Aggressive

Okay, Christmas is over, but the Christmas shopping season is still in full swing, or at least the post-Christmas, pre-New Year's inventory purge is in full swing. Bloomberg News reports that retailers are slashing prices in an aggressive manner. The wire service reported widespread discounts on all sorts of consumer products, from electronics to toys and clothing: "Starting online yesterday, Best Buy Co. trimmed the price of a Dell Studio 17-inch notebook computer to $699.99 from $779.99. Toys "R"Us Inc. shoppers who buy a Nintendo Wii video game can buy a second game for half price.

"Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which started cutting holiday toy prices Sept. 30, is trying to keep consumers coming back by offering a $50 gift card on purchases of Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 players through Jan. 1. Promotions intensified after last weekend’s East Coast snowstorm hurt sales going into Christmas.

“We are going to be very aggressive, we’ve been aggressive all season,” Toys “R” Us Chief Executive Officer Jerry Storch said by telephone Dec. 23 from Wayne, New Jersey, where the largest U.S. toy chain is based."

The National Retail Federation expects holiday sales to be 1 percent lower than last year's. But December should end on a strong note because the Dec. 26, the day after Christmas, falls on a Saturday, Bloomberg said, citing a report by Lisa Walters and Sapna Shah, principals of Retail Eye Partners, a New York-based research firm.

Deep discounts are a blast for consumers, but they don't exactly inspire confidence in the economy. The discounts and promotions began in late September, and it's easy to imagine than lasting straight through the winter to President's Day. And the discounts aren't limited to the lower-end of the retail spectrum, either. "Saks Inc., the New York-based luxury retailer, said it was offering up to 70 percent off from 8 a.m. to noon today, after which the discounts will revert to 40 percent," Bloomberg noted.'