Ralph
26.11.2000, 01:06
Nachdem der Thanksgiving Day traditionell das Weihnachtsgeschäft in den USA einläutet, sind heute schon die ersten Einschätzungen verfügbar !
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Shoppers Seen Putting Off Holiday Purchases
By Anna Driver
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Shoppers are crowding U.S. malls and surfing Web sites this busy holiday weekend, but a nation of procrastinators will likely spend the bulk of their gift-buying budget the weekend before Christmas, economists said Saturday.
Early indications show that store traffic was good on Friday, the official launch of the holiday season. But last-minute shoppers and those looking for bargains are expected to fuel bigger sales the weekend before Christmas Day, which falls on a Monday.
``I think this season is going to start off slow and end up strong,'' http://www.stock-channel.net/Board/smilies/confused.gif William Ford, senior economic advisor for check acceptance company TeleCheck Services, a unit of First Data Corp.(NYSE:FDC - news), said. ``People will have an extra Saturday and Sunday to shop this year and some will wait until then.'' .....aber man kann doch sein Geld nur einmal ausgeben ! http://www.stock-channel.net/Board/smilies/confused.gif
Ford forecasts sales at stores open at least a year will rise 4 percent during the holiday season, compared with last year's gain of about 7 percent. Factors slowing sales growth this year include higher interest rates on credit cards and mortgages, considerably higher costs for gasoline and home heating oil, and steep declines in most U.S. stock prices.
About 67.6 million shoppers visited U.S. malls on Friday compared with 61.6 million the same day a year-ago, according to data compiled by the trade group National Retail Federation and Chicago-based retail consulting firm RCT.
The mall data, which does not include any information on sales, also revealed that shoppers started their day earlier, lured by the heavy discounts that retailers used to drive traffic into stores, Rick Gallagher, publisher and editor-in-chief of Stores Magazine said.
``I think the conclusion you draw is that the promotions were successful because they brought people out earlier and they stayed longer,'' Gallagher said. ``They (shoppers) probably brought in larger quantities.''
BIG RETAILER
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.(NYSE:WMT - news), the world's largest retailer, reported Friday's sales totaled $1.1 billion, compared with sales slightly above $1 billion a year-ago, a company spokesman said. The discounter, based in Bentonville, Ark., said sales growth at stores open a least a year, a key measure of retail performance, came in between 4 to 6 percent.
At The Mall at Short Hills, N.J., with its collection of upscale department stores and boutiques, some merchandise appeared to be marked down sooner this year that in the past, a mall spokesman said.
``It does seem like they are taking some promotions a little earlier this year than they have in years past,'' Tom McCracken, the mall's general manager, said.
Discounts that lure customers into stores also cut into holiday profits. But that will not be known until retailers begin reporting weekly sales figures.
Some consumers avoided the crowds and did their shopping online.
Santa Clara, Ca.-based Yahoo Inc.(NasdaqNM:YHOO - news), which hosts 10,000 merchants on its shopping site, reported that order volume doubled Friday when compared with a year-ago.
``We're expecting a strong holiday season based on the numbers we saw in early November,'' Yahoo spokeswoman Jennifer Dulski, said. ``We also expect next week to be strong because online shopping tends to pick up during the week when people are at the office.''
Source: Yahoo! Finance
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Ralph
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Shoppers Seen Putting Off Holiday Purchases
By Anna Driver
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Shoppers are crowding U.S. malls and surfing Web sites this busy holiday weekend, but a nation of procrastinators will likely spend the bulk of their gift-buying budget the weekend before Christmas, economists said Saturday.
Early indications show that store traffic was good on Friday, the official launch of the holiday season. But last-minute shoppers and those looking for bargains are expected to fuel bigger sales the weekend before Christmas Day, which falls on a Monday.
``I think this season is going to start off slow and end up strong,'' http://www.stock-channel.net/Board/smilies/confused.gif William Ford, senior economic advisor for check acceptance company TeleCheck Services, a unit of First Data Corp.(NYSE:FDC - news), said. ``People will have an extra Saturday and Sunday to shop this year and some will wait until then.'' .....aber man kann doch sein Geld nur einmal ausgeben ! http://www.stock-channel.net/Board/smilies/confused.gif
Ford forecasts sales at stores open at least a year will rise 4 percent during the holiday season, compared with last year's gain of about 7 percent. Factors slowing sales growth this year include higher interest rates on credit cards and mortgages, considerably higher costs for gasoline and home heating oil, and steep declines in most U.S. stock prices.
About 67.6 million shoppers visited U.S. malls on Friday compared with 61.6 million the same day a year-ago, according to data compiled by the trade group National Retail Federation and Chicago-based retail consulting firm RCT.
The mall data, which does not include any information on sales, also revealed that shoppers started their day earlier, lured by the heavy discounts that retailers used to drive traffic into stores, Rick Gallagher, publisher and editor-in-chief of Stores Magazine said.
``I think the conclusion you draw is that the promotions were successful because they brought people out earlier and they stayed longer,'' Gallagher said. ``They (shoppers) probably brought in larger quantities.''
BIG RETAILER
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.(NYSE:WMT - news), the world's largest retailer, reported Friday's sales totaled $1.1 billion, compared with sales slightly above $1 billion a year-ago, a company spokesman said. The discounter, based in Bentonville, Ark., said sales growth at stores open a least a year, a key measure of retail performance, came in between 4 to 6 percent.
At The Mall at Short Hills, N.J., with its collection of upscale department stores and boutiques, some merchandise appeared to be marked down sooner this year that in the past, a mall spokesman said.
``It does seem like they are taking some promotions a little earlier this year than they have in years past,'' Tom McCracken, the mall's general manager, said.
Discounts that lure customers into stores also cut into holiday profits. But that will not be known until retailers begin reporting weekly sales figures.
Some consumers avoided the crowds and did their shopping online.
Santa Clara, Ca.-based Yahoo Inc.(NasdaqNM:YHOO - news), which hosts 10,000 merchants on its shopping site, reported that order volume doubled Friday when compared with a year-ago.
``We're expecting a strong holiday season based on the numbers we saw in early November,'' Yahoo spokeswoman Jennifer Dulski, said. ``We also expect next week to be strong because online shopping tends to pick up during the week when people are at the office.''
Source: Yahoo! Finance
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Ralph