CLEVELAND — The holiday sales creep continues as retailers launch deals in early October to get a piece of your holiday spending budget.
The deals started October 1 with Target’s Circle Week sale, which ran through Saturday, October 7.
Walmart launched deals Monday, October 9 running through Thursday, October 12. The 3-Day Deal Dash from Kohl's runs through Wednesday, October 11, and Best Buy has sales throughout the month.
“As all the major retailers continue trying to one up each other, they're starting their holiday promotions earlier than ever,” says Consumer Reports expert Samantha Gordon. “This means October is now when you'll see all those big savings start, and there will be impressive sales all month long.”
It’s no coincidence these deals are happening around Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days, which are being held Tuesday, October 10 and Wednesday, October 11.
“Amazon is the gorilla in this market and their Prime Day this summer in July has caused folks to be fast followers,” says Michael Goldberg, an associate professor at Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management.
According to a September CNBC survey, 92% of US adults questioned have reduced their spending over the past six months. And 76% plan to cut their spending on non-essential items as the holiday season approaches.
Goldberg says the early deals are due to the economy. Consumers are feeling the effects of higher interest rates and inflation. Retailers know there’s a finite amount of spending around the holidays.
“Many retailers make the majority of their money often times in this sort of Thanksgiving to Christmas season,” Goldberg explains. “And with so much uncertainty about the economy and folks feeling pinched, these retailers are like ‘well let me get to them (consumers) earlier in the cycle. Let me give them a good deal that they’re going to go ahead and buy that present.’”
According to a recent NerdWallet Survey, 85% of Americans plan to purchase holiday gifts this year and expect to spend $831, which totals more than $184 billion expected to be spent on gifts during the 2023 holiday season.
The National Retail Federation reported retail sales during the 2022 November-December holiday season at $936.3 billion.