CLEVELAND — 'Tis the season for gift shopping. However, inflation is playing a big factor this holiday season.
"Retailers, about 75% of them are expecting 40% of their annual income this holiday season, so they'll be vying for the customer's wallets so in doing that they will be giving deep discounts," Consumer expert and Case Western Reserve University Associate Professor Somali Ghosh said.
With inflation, Ghosh anticipates that means a longer shopping season... something Walmart is actively doing now.
"What's new and different that we're discovering is consumers are spreading out their holiday buying throughout the entire season, so you used to see people shopping that one day, now they want to shop a bit differently," Walmart Director of Communications Rachel Nipper said.
Amazon is posting early Black Friday deals and Target's list is already out too as consumers spread their spending over multiple paychecks, or even consider options where they can make multiple payments.
"Shoppers continue to evolve, consumers want different things, so a big thing we're doing is we're listening and learning," Nipper said.
Even with inflation, Ghosh is still expecting people to spend, according to one survey, over $1,000 per person.
They're just being strategic on what it goes toward.
"People will buy more expensive gifts perhaps, but people will buy fewer gifts in comparison to earlier years," Ghosh said.
Along with those fewer gifts that are more expensive, Ghosh also predicts that more people will be getting essential items checked off their lists.
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