Post Christmas Retailer Closures Begin
One day after the “Mega Monday” sales of December 26th — the fourth named shopping day of the 2011 season (after Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Free Shipping Friday and Super Saturday) — the announcement of store closures begins: Kmart/Sears will close 120 stores it was announced today.
This is just the first bomb of 2012 in a changing retail environment that will likely mark significant changes for Christmas shopping of the future. Expect more.
Many in the industry will blame Kmart/Sears for this news and maybe that is deserved. But there is no doubt about it: Christmas 2011 did little to restore their confidence that the American consumer is back and spending money. Right up until Christmas Day the news was full of stories about what a success the 2011 shopping season was. Now comes the truth and this is just round one.
So what are the expected trends in Christmas shopping of the future?
Online sales were up all season long across the board. FedEx, UPS and the Postal Service all report a challenging season keeping up with shipping demands fueled by online commerce. Expect those trends to continue.
But in the short term take a look at Europe. Today it was announced that Italy suffered it’s worse Christmas shopping season in 10 years. That will be echoed all over Europe due to the present financial crisis. That’s coming here to the USA next year.
If you’re a Christmas shopper we offer this advice: start next Christmas’ shopping early and do as much of it online as you can.
