The growing consumerism of our society is always a hot topic this time of year. Discussions about whether or not retailers should open on Thanksgiving to the monitoring of ‘Christmas Creep’ by various blogs and websites can be seen everywhere.
However what gets lost in the shuffle is the fundamental question involved – what do consumers want? And based upon their behavior and the already strong start to the holiday retail season- the answer appears to be they want to start shopping.
According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), more than 40% of holiday shoppers start to buy gifts before Halloween. A recent study shows that Millennials tend to shop earlier in the holiday season than their generational counterparts. Not only are they more accepting of this trend, a small but growing percentage of the people in that age group actually like early holiday merchandise. It helps them spread out their spending, avoid holiday crowds and the stress of last-minute shopping.