Stores push deals to lure shoppers for holiday stretch

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Stores are pushing deals and incentives like free shipping for the final week of the holiday shopping season, as new numbers show people are so far spending at a bit of a slower pace than last year.

Retailers pared down their inventories and offered more exclusive merchandise this season in a bid to avoid having to offer big discounts that shoppers have come to expect. But customers seem willing to wait, and so stores are once again counting on last-minute buyers for the final stretch, particularly today, which could be the busiest day of the year.

“This has really become a game of chicken. In that game of chicken, retailers once again were the ones who flinched,” said Joseph Schmitt, director at the retail consulting firm AlixPartners.

Retail spending is up 2 percent, slightly slower the 2.4 percent gain at this time last year, with the rate of online spending far outpacing buying at physical stores from Oct. 29 through Monday, according to First Data. The firm analyzed online and in-store payments from nearly a million merchants. The data captures about 40 percent of all card transactions in the U.S. but excludes cash.

Online sales growth was up 9 percent, while spending at physical stores was up a mere 0.1 percent. At the mid-season point, e-commerce made up about 22 percent of retail spending, up from 16 percent in 2015. Overall, the average dollar amount spent per person for the 45-day period was $70.28, up slightly from last year’s $69.34.

Gregg Omoto, an information technology worker from Seattle, says he’s been shopping more online.

“It’s easier,” he said.

Nearly 156 million people plan to or are considering taking advantage of the sales today to complete their holiday gift lists, according to a survey released Friday by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. The survey found that more people said they planned to shop today than those who aimed to shop over Thanksgiving weekend in an earlier survey.