Retailers have been struggling as is this year and unfortunately many are saying they cannot survive another holiday season of suppressed sales. IBIS World Inc. released a report today saying that total gift sales are expected to decline 2.6 percent this Christmas season, and that electronics are among the rapidly declining categories. Apparently this Christmas consumers are purchasing fewer big-ticket items like TVs, home theater systems and computers, but are willing to purchase lower priced gadgets.
“This season there won’t be a “wow” factor in terms of sales,” said Toon van Beeck, senior analyst with IBIS World. “Consumers have been so inundated with discounts for more than a year that it will be difficult for retailers to get shoppers excited about holiday promotions.”
One item that IBIS World has dubbed this year’s top seller is the eBook Reader. The variety of recently released readers with lower price points will be major holiday sellers this year. IBIS World says that about 30 percent of all e-reader sales in 2009 are estimated to derive from the holiday period alone.
“Consumers will reduce spending on big ticket items,” said van Beeck. “Instead, they’ll trade down towards trendy and cheaper gadgets like e-readers; iPod Nanos; Nintendo Wiis and other game consoles; Flip Video and small point-and-shoot digital cameras. This is where the real value will be for consumers this Christmas.”
