Are holiday shoppers tapped out?
A new national survey suggests consumers are reining in their gift-buying earlier than usual.
A promising surge last month in Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales has given way to disappointing mid-December shopping, said Britt Beemer, chairman of retail analyst America’s Research Group.
“Americans spent out on Black Friday,” he said. “They had money to spend on the big deals and bargains. They spent it, and now they’re done. They simply have no money.”
The survey of 1,000 consumers conducted Friday through Sunday by America’s Research Group and UBS Global Equity Research showed 40 percent are done with their holiday shopping, compared with 28 percent at the same time last year.
To keep cash registers ringing over the next 12 days, retailers will have to remain aggressive with price discounting and promotions, Beemer said.
While Beemer attributes the survey results to the weak economy, other analysts say the relatively long holiday shopping period this year — 30 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas — means consumers may just be finishing their shopping earlier.
Anecdotal reports suggest weekend shopping in metro Denver was strong.
“I was out shopping, and I can tell you that the stores were really packed over the weekend,” said Shannon Butler of the Colorado Retail Council.
At the Streets at Southglenn, weekend retail-sales totals were not available, but another indicator — the number of skaters at the outdoor mall’s ice rink — was at a near-record level, said spokeswoman Megan Campbell.
Diana Hunter, shopping Monday on the 16th Street Mall, said she has barely done any holiday gift-buying.
“I’m just getting started,” she said. “I’m really going to need all the time I can get. I’ll probably be shopping on Christmas Eve.”
While the Saturday before Christmas typically is huge for shopping, having it occur this year on Christmas Eve will make it a weak sales day, Beemer said.
Not so, according to Kathy Grannis of the National Retail Federation.
The ability to shop on Dec. 24, she said, is “a procrastinator’s dream.”
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com
