Is there a Business Life after Christmas Sales

[Helge V. Keitel]

I try to get back to the ordinary way of life. What happens after the pre-Christmas discount sales? Are we going to see even lower prices? What means are shops and markets using to attract low-spending customers to open their wallets. I read New York Times...trying to understand if there is business life after Christmas.

For weeks, reluctant consumers have forced retailers to lower their prices — and lower them again and again — before they even considered opening tight wallets and purses.

The Virgin Megastore in New York's Times Square on Friday. U.S. retailers were deeply discounting prices on the day after Christmas to try to bolster slow sales. Nevertheless, stores were relatively quiet Friday morning compared with previous years.

Today, looking at emails, I learned: Now shoppers are expecting even better deals, as they do every year, in the post-Christmas clearance sales.

Industry analysts say consumers will not be disappointed, though the deals will most likely come with a twist. Rather than seeing merchandise marked down even more from the 75 percent-off stickers, shoppers should expect more combined discounts — or “bundling,” as it is known in the industry.

“Buy a laptop, get a free printer, ink cartridges — and paper,” explains Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for the NPD Group, a retailing industry consulting company.

Helge: They are bundling products and services to clear their inventory while new things are waiting to fill the shelves.

Retailers have no choice but to find creative ways to clear their store shelves, because they have to make room for spring merchandise. And persuading consumers to take their goods off their hands is increasingly their only option, since other avenues, like discount Web sites, already have full inventories of their own.

Helge: It's going to be a hard time for shops to continue with normal prices. I'm not sure about the situation in Finland while I'm writing this but the discounting seems to be massive here as well. The clients are now firmly in the driving seat. It's a buyers market NOW.

[Kai Nyman]

Wow - it's buyers market now - it's my market.
I do not appreciate bundling too high - but it is always fun to get something extra. Bundling is a great way for the merchant to get at least something from stuff that does not sell. And it is a great way to get happy smiling customers; just like myself.
Lets head to the after Christmas discount markets - and have some shopping pleasure - and make a good deed as a side effect - it helpes everybody that we spend some money for fun. wow.

[Nina Suomalainen]

Very poetic:
Is there business,
after Christmas?

The Finnish Prime Minister told us to keep spending to avoid the recession. Sure I realise that economic activity is needed, but.... if I look at all the crap people are buying for themselves and each other at Xmas times, just for the sake of buying and spending, I am wondering...

Is the economic success really based on buying stuff we do not need - in fact nobody needs? Don't get me wrong, I am NOT against spending money, or even against others spending money ;-) which many probably have much more than I do.... and I am NOT against spending on luxury items. In fact, I am starting to think that ecologic spending is spending on luxury - less concrete stuff, but more on immaterial things, such as value, brand name, image, etc. And also on services, such as beauty parlours, massage, sports lessons in in general for sports, concerts, etc.

Therefore despite what the PM says, I am not spending my money any differently to revive the Finnish economy - by buying products made in China and maybe profiting the large department store chains in Finland and not many others. But hey, instead I am happy to spend on a short skiing holiday in Lapland!