Follow
Super Saturday is expected to provide customers with huge discounts ahead of Christmas, with numerous retailers announcing special offers for December 19.
As revealed by researchers at ShopperTrak, a software company specialized in retail analytics, Super Saturday, defined as the last Saturday occurring before Christmas, is only surpassed by Black Friday in terms of sales revenue and customer traffic.
This opinion has also been shared by Brian Cornell, Target CEO, who is expecting a significant revenue boost these days, just like it’s been happening every year at this time of the month.
In fact, last year, greatly underestimated and under-publicized Super Saturday managed to generate more income than Black Friday, amounting to a mind-blowing $9 billion in total sales.
Given the fact that the winter holiday season is fast approaching, brick and mortar companies are hoping that this weekend customers will no longer rely on e-commerce, and instead go to physical stores, so as to ensure that they obtain the products they need without any sort of delay.
According to a National Retail Federation poll, as many as 90% of all respondents hadn’t yet finished buying everything they needed for the holidays, and a fifth were still on the lookout for new purchases at discount prices.
Aware of this situation, some companies have expanded their working hours considerably, so as to take advantage as much as possible of the last-minute shopping frenzy.
For example, Toys R Us store clerks will have a grueling schedule the following days, given that starting from Saturday and ending on Tuesday locations will begin their activity at 6 a.m., remaining in operation until 2 a.m.
Afterwards, from Wednesday at 6.a.m., toy shops will be open for business uninterruptedly, until 9 p.m. on Thursday, December 24.
Wisconsin-based department store chain Kohl’s also looks set to maximize its revenues the following days, counting on the holiday shopping madness, since its facilities have been open 24/7 ever since Thursday, and this will continue up until 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
Walmart is using another strategy in order to generate impressive sales these days, by relying on the recently released and much-anticipated movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
As announced by Jaeme Laczkowski, a representative of the popular retail corporation, department stores and hypermarkets have thousands of Star Wars-themed collectibles on their shelves, which they will be commercializing from Friday until current stock runs out.
Other merchants such as Sears and Target have thought of the fact that people might dread the idea of navigating through crowded stores, in search of elusive items. As a result, they are betting on in-store pick-up, after customers have already chosen their desired products online.
Target, which will be making this service available until p.m. on December 24, is also offering its curbside services, through which items ordered on the company website can be handed out by staff, without customers even having to step out of the car or waste precious time at checkout lines.
The same type of convenient delivery has also been promised by Sears. After buyers have selected and ordered merchandise through the Shop Your Way movie app, they will be able to benefit from in-vehicle pickup in the parking lot of their nearest store, having their package brought by a member of staff in as little as 5 minutes.
Stores haven’t just adapted their schedules and delivery services so as to attract large number of customers; they are also promising significant discounts, especially when it comes to cold-weather apparel.
Given the fact that air temperatures have remained unusually elevated for this time of the year, warm clothes have failed to draw the attention of buyers, which is why companies such as Macy’s, Sears, Kmart and Kohl’s are now selling winter coats, snow boots and cardigans at much more convenient prices.
Image Source: Flickr
