With about one-third of holiday sales estimated to come in the final ten days before Christmas, retailers are pulling out all the stops to attract last-minute shoppers, mostly in the form of extended hours and deals.
While this year's Black Friday weekend saw a ramp-up in extended hours, store hours in the days before Christmas are likewise increasing for many. Toys "R" Us will remain open for 88 hours in a row starting at 6 a.m. Tuesday and continuing until 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve. It's the first time that all Toys "R" Us stores nationwide will stay open around the clock during the final countdown to Christmas.
Starting last Friday, JC Penney will be open until midnight every day through Dec. 23, with the exception of Sunday, when stores will close at 11 p.m. On Christmas Eve, Penney will be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fourteen Macy's stores will be open for 83 consecutive hours, starting at 7 a.m. Tuesday, up from 12 stores last year.
"The demand was there, so we're rising to meet it," Macy's spokeswoman Milinda Martin told the Los Angeles Times. "It offers customers the opportunity to get their holiday shopping done in a less harried manner, so we're excited about it."
Beyond extra hours, heavy promotions were being touted on "Super Saturday," which also appears to be becoming a more heavily marketed day. Many stores had doorbuster deals and early hours reminiscent of Black Friday. So far, however, stores appear to have maintained a smart balance between price and inventory after two years of miscalculations, according to retail observers. In 2008, overly-aggressive inventory positions led to steep markdowns as the economy quickly worsened. In 2009, overly-lean inventories led to shortages and missed opportunities.
"The magic number is going to be 50 percent off," said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at NPD Group in Port Washington, N.Y. "Retailers are holding the line there."
For its part, many online retailers participated in the first "Free Shipping Day" on Friday.
The average person still had more than half of his holiday shopping left to do by the second week of December and 37 million people (16.9 percent) had not even started their shopping as of late last week, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation.
Discussion Questions: What's the best way for retailers to attract last-minute shoppers? Are you likewise sensing the promotional cadence is more balanced this year?