Happy Halloween... or should we say Merry Christmas? Beginning November 1, Walmart is unwrapping its first round of 2014 holiday specials, offering more than 20,000 Rollbacks on items including groceries and popular brands such as Disney “Frozen," Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Samsung, and
Helping families deliver an amazing Christmas starts now,” said Duncan Mac Naughton, chief merchandising officer of Walmart U.S. “As soon as they put away their Halloween costumes, our customers start prepping for Thanksgiving, buying Christmas trees and shopping for gifts. They want the best deals now and we’re here for them today, next week and throughout the season," Mac Naughton further explains.
With more and more retailers having already started to promote holiday items, holiday savings and holiday specials, customers are nearly forced to jump on the bandwagon. But not all consumers are ready to deck the halls and sing songs of holly. Many will wait for what has become the celebratory kick off the the holiday season, Small Business Saturday, which takes place the Saturday after Thanksgiving and follows Black Friday. And yet some will hold their wallets tight through Cyber Monday, which takes place December 1st this year.
Number Crunching
The National Retail Federation's 2014 holiday forecast calls for a retail sales increase of 4.1 percent to a total of $616.9 billion this year. They define “holiday sales” as those happening from November 1 through December 31, making Walmart's move to roll out their savings November 1st right on track with national trend. The real reason for this, however, may be because the government collects retail data on a monthly basis - so using the full month makes the number crunching a lot easier.
Retailers could see a welcome boost in holiday shopping, giving some companies the shot in the arm they need after a volatile first half of the year and an uneventful summer,” said National Retail Federation's President and CEO Matthew Shay. “While expectations for sales growth are upbeat, it goes without saying there still remains some uneasiness and anxiety among consumers when it comes to their purchase decisions. The lagging economic recovery, though improving, is still top of mind for many Americans," Shay continued.
Over the last ten years, holiday sales on average have grown 2.9 percent. This includes the 2014 estimates, marking the first time since 2011 that holiday sales would increase more than 4 percent.
Rolling Ahead
While collective holiday sales seem to be promising, Walmart is no doubt keeping a close eye on it's closest competitor,
If a guest purchases a qualifying item at Target between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24 and then finds it for less at Target.com, a local competitor’s printed ad or at select online retailers, Target will match that price,” the company noted in a statement.
With a price match strategy in place, Target is ready to compete with Walmart and likewise, we can be certain Walmart is ready to compete with Target. Walmart is testing price match against online retailers in six markets, although the company gave no details on the test saying only that it’s being discussed. The retailer’s normal price match policy between identical in-store items to other physical store competitors will remain as-is this holiday season.
With Walmart becoming holiday central November 1st and other retailers planning for the same, the real story here will be how consumers respond to early holiday shopping and big box shopping in general. Time will tell, and we'll be here to report.
