Retail to the rescue

Christmas decorations in Walmart already?

Arkansans squeezed by inflation, take heart. Black Friday arrives early this year. In some cases, it’s already arrived. Amazon launched its twoday “Prime Early Access” sale, and Target’s weekly Black Friday deals have started. Walmart is offering early online deals on computers, toys, and this year’s pet product, air fryers. And Bloomberg reports that Best Buy is offering early deals on TVs, headphones and Apple laptops.

A report from Adobe Analytics says U.S. shoppers can expect massive online discounts this holiday season, from tech gadgets to sporting goods, and the best buys might be had in late November.

This shopping season represents a pivot of 180 degrees from 2021, when there was no inventory and no reason for retailers to discount. Fearing shortages, shoppers were willing to pay more.

Fast forward a year, and retailers are sitting on loads of inventory. Unfortunately, with 8% inflation expected to linger through the season, Americans have less discretionary income to spend. Hence the early deals attempting to entice shoppers into action.

The Adobe report predicts Americans will spend $209.7 billion this holiday season, up 2.5% from last year but short of 2021’s 8.6% gain. Expect fewer sales at higher prices once the holiday shopping season really kicks in come November, it adds.

And analysts remind that holiday traveling will be more expensive this year with gas prices still through the roof. The average price of preparing Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners is expected to rise by 25% as well, they say. But take heart. Big retail has our back. Who could resist Prime Early Access, after all?

If anything will detract Americans’ minds from our troubles, it would be bargains. And stuff. Good ol’ George Carlin-level stuff. We may be willing to look down our noses at the neighbors over their political opposition to this, or support of that. But we can all find common cause in a great deal on this season’s societal pacifier, the air fryer.

Not only do they suction the fat and grease out of those fries, they zap the taste right out as well. Sort of like what happens to our bank accounts each holiday shopping season, one way or the other.