"The January sales drifted back to become the St ­Stephen's Day sales, as the stores decided to cash in right after the Christmas presents were bought and to strike while shoppers still had a bit of cash. The notion of a sale starting before Christmas Day though seemed absurd. Nowadays, those same stores that strictly observed the rules of the shopping game are pulling all sorts of stunts to draw in the footfall. Mid-season sales, pre-Christmas sales and winter sales are all normal."
"The arrival of online shopping has upset the model. Now the big event before Christmas is Black Friday. What started out as an internet phenomenon in the US then spread to this side of the Atlantic and conquered the high street too. It's first cousin, Cyber Monday, is in the same vein. From Christmas gifts to big-ticket items, retailers of all sorts now know that consumers are wired into the idea of a spend before December kicks in."
January sales migrated to St ­Stephen's Day as stores sought immediate post-Christmas purchases, striking while shoppers still had cash. The idea of sales before Christmas became acceptable, and retailers now stage mid-season, pre-Christmas and winter sales to attract footfall. Bargain-hunters can still trawl rails in late December and January but rarely need to wait. The rise of online shopping created new pre-Christmas events, notably Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Black Friday, observed this year on November 28, is the Friday after Thanksgiving and traditionally starts the Christmas shopping season. Sales often begin earlier and can yield significant savings for well-prepared shoppers. Research from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission finds less than a third of buyers trust displayed discounts.
Read at Irish Independent
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