Target, according to a Reuters report, is looking for a big Christmas selling video games and gadgets, such as tablet devices, to boost its consumer electronics business.
"Within gaming, it's been a pretty soft industry over the course of the year, but I do think that given the slate of games this fall we should be set up to have a really strong holiday," Nik Nayar, Target's vice president of electronics and gaming, told Reuters.
Unfortunately for Target, it's got a few other challenges ahead of it, as well. For one, there is the continuing problem of keeping its site online. Target.com went offline this week for about two-and-a-half hours. This followed several other outages since the company relaunched its site recently.
Another significant issue, according to a Wall Street Journal report, is that Target and other retailers are going to have some trouble prying away sales of e-readers and tablets from Amazon, Apple and Barnes & Noble this holiday season.
"Some of these tablets are essentially house brands for other retailers," Shawn DuBravac, chief economist for the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), told the Journal. "It makes for a very tough environment for traditional electronics retailers."
Target also faces some serious price competition for the holidays. Walmart's "Christmas Guarantee" contains the pledge that it will honor the lowest price on the market for any item it sells between Nov. 1 up to Dec. 25, regardless of when it was purchased in one of its stores or on Walmart.com.
According to the CEA, the average consumer will spend $246 on consumer electronics this year. That's about one-third of all holiday purchases per person.
"Consumer electronics continue to play a leading role in holiday shopping, with consumer tech clearly being a go-to category for holiday gift spending," said Shawn DuBravac, CEA's chief economist and director of research, in a press release. "After months of depressed consumer confidence, individuals are indicating they plan to spend this holiday and are looking for technology, as more adults will buy consumer electronics as a gift this year as compared to last year."
- Guns and bloodshed may be the perfect gifts to ensure a merry Christmas for Target Corp. - Reuters
- Another crash at Target.com - Star Tribune
- Retailers to Miss Tablet Party - The Wall Street Journal
- CEA Projects 'Digital Holiday Season' With Increased Spending on Electronics, Gifts Overall - Consumer Electronics Association