Holiday Shopping in a Slow Economy

As we near Halloween, more and more retail outlets are beginning to ramp up for the holiday shopping season. But it doesn't take Alan Greenspan to see that sales will be slumping this year, with the stock market taking a dive and unemployment on the rise. What does this mean for you?

It's a mixed bag for consumers. On a positive note, competition for dollars being spent this year will be vicious. This means bigger sales and more promos to lure customers into stores and keep them there once they arrive. I would imagine gimmicky shopping events like the early morning sales the day after Thanksgiving will be even more outrageous than ever before. Retailers are anticipating few outtings per shopper, so when they have 'gimme days' like Black Friday, they will do all they can to make it worth their while.

On the flip side, to a certain extent larger retailers are already writing off the 2008 holiday season and not even putting up a fight. Why spend the money on resources when it's a losing battle anyway - or so the thinking goes. This could mean less advertising, which probably won't bother anyone too much. But what will hurt, are the drastic reductions in inventory ordering for chains like Target. The lesson for this fall is going to be shop early and grab what you can while it's there, because with inventories so low you may not get another chance.