Gift-giving might be a difficult task this holiday season, because according to the Washington Post, “popular items are likely to be in short supply and sell out sooner, experts say, so making key purchases will require patience, persistence, and flexibility.”
If you’re an avid Black Friday shopper, the key to a successful 2021 shopping spree seems to start early.
“Half of U.S. consumers said they’d started their holiday shopping by the second week of October, according to a survey by Morning Consult. That sounds impressive, but it’s similar to 2020 when Americans worried about delays at shipping companies such as FedEx Corp. and UPS,” – Bloomberg Businessweek.
Certain items appear to be in much greater demand, and with supply chain shortages, there is no guarantee of obtaining your wishlist items.
“The swell of demand is causing shortages to crop up months earlier than usual. Online “out of stock” messages exploded 250 percent in October compared with the year-ago period, with shoppers seeing more than 2 billion of such warnings, according to Adobe,” – Washington Post.
Bloomberg Businessweek even predicts that this could be a very “unpredictable season.” They state that discounts on electronics have even decreased significantly since 2020. “Despite earlier-than-normal promotions this year, discounts are weaker across several categories, Adobe concluded. Those include electronics, where discounts are at 8.7%, compared with 13.2% at this point in 2020.”.
Consumers may even experience delays in shipping, which can impact the gift-giving aspect of the holiday season.
With consumers eager to spend this holiday season, retailers are in “the best position coming into this holiday season than they’ve been in many years, according to Bloomberg Businessweek,” but many people might not be so lucky when shopping for their wishlist gifts this holiday season.