Holiday shopping season underway

Thanksgiving? Nah, retailers already have Christmas dreams

The wax had barely had time to cool in the jack o’ lanterns when announcements about the first online holiday deals hit.

Forget waiting until the turkey’s in the oven, Christmas creep has begun in earnest. Amazon posted the first of its holiday deals at midnight in Seattle. Computermaker Dell announced Black Friday deals a full 24 days before the post- Thanksgiving shopping bonanza, plus a 24- hour “Black Friday flash sale” Tuesday. Others are hard on their heels.

The push makes sense, said Brendan Witcher, principal analyst for eBusiness with Forrester Researcher.

“To retailers, Thanksgiving is Christmas,” he said.

A good chunk of the year’s retail sales, between 40% to 50% of them, happen in November, he said. “Once December 1st hits, we’re already in the tail.”

Consumers haven’t totally bought into this. A survey by investment management firm JLL found more than two- thirds of shoppers think the holiday season starts after Thanksgiving,

even though 45% of retailers see it as starting Nov. 1.

Actually, the ball gets rolling around July 1 for retailers, said Gene Alvarez, an e- commerce analyst with Gartner. That’s when they begin positioning product so it’s ready to go Nov. 1.

Those early sales and offers help spread out demand, crucial for ensuring a smooth ride to Dec. 25, when all anyone wants to hear is the sound of wrapping paper being joyfully ripped off presents.

The National Retail Federation predicts 2016 holiday sales will increase 3.7% to $ 630.5 billion, compared to last year’s 4.1% growth. NRF defines holiday sales as those occurring in the months of November and December.