Holiday Retail Reports Say Consumers are Ready to Shop — Now

Research released this past week revealed insights into the upcoming holiday season. According to Sensormatic, MiQ and RetailMeNot in separate reports, shoppers are entering the shopping season sooner and armed with optimistic outlooks while starting to think about gift-giving as early as September. In the annual ShopperTrak report presented by Sensormatic Solutions of Johnson Controls, the Thanksgiving Day weekend, including Black Friday, and the Saturday after Thanksgiving, are set to continue to be crucial days for all U.S. retailers this holiday season. Despite some ahead of the curve consumers getting a jump on the holidays, the report suggests nearly half of all holiday sales can still be narrowed down to 10 peak traffic days, with eight days landing firmly in December. “It’s clear that the physical store is still a key to holiday success for retailers,” said Bjoern Petersen, president at Sensormatic Solutions. “With the top shopping days making up 45 percent of retailers’ holiday sales in the U.S., it is more important than ever for retailers to prioritize in-store customer engagement as an effective way to drive sales, customer retention and brand sentiment.” Similarly, MiQ’s 2019 Holiday Shopping Study forecasts the majority of Americans will begin holiday shopping in late October with a

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