The Forecast for the Fourth Quarter for Brick and Mortar Locations

For years, financial analysts have been tracking holiday shopping patterns, and have noticed what many of us have already deemed to be inevitable. Online shopping and recent tragedies during the Black Friday rush have added to the decline of the once-popular tradition. Just how do you think retailers will fare this season? We have compiled the data and feel that brick-and-mortar shopping is far from obsolete. Here’s why:

Online Shopping is Only Part of the Market

Of course, most industry experts will point the finger at online shopping for ringing the death knell on Black Friday, or brick-and-mortar shopping in general. With our busy lives, its good to know that we no longer have to go out in less-than-desirable weather, brave intense traffic, find a parking spot and dodge other shoppers as we wait in insanely long lines.

While online retailers, such as Amazon, have won the hearts of many a Millennial, many Baby Boomers still prefer the old-fashioned rush that comes with Black Friday sales. It is also as much of a Thanksgiving tradition to older folks as football and pumpkin pie. It should also be said, however, that the older generation has been becoming much more tech-savvy over the years, and many have shifted from this viewpoint.

Stores are Changing Strategies

Retailers are aware that Black Friday is not as popular of an idea as it used to be. For this reason, they have worked on stretching sales and promotions over the course of the whole holiday season. This can be taken one of two ways. There are companies like Nordstrom that absolutely refuse to put up Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving, but still spread discounts throughout the month of December. However, big-box retailers like Walmart and Target begin to focus on its holiday shoppers as early as October.

Both strategies take away from the urgency that is felt by consumers to get all their shopping done on a specific day if they want to get the best discounts. In recent times, both customers and retail employees have been injured, or even killed, by the hordes of delirious Christmas shoppers streaming through the doors of stores. Fights have broken out over deeply-discounted, popular items that have limited numbers in stock. More than anything, brick-and-mortar stores want to ensure everyone’s safety.

Product will Always Have to Be Moved

That all being said, Black Friday is a day that many brick and mortar stores depend on. It has been long-rumored that the origin of the day’s moniker was the fact that retailers, who spent most of the financial year in the red, finally arrived in the black during the fourth quarter. This is really not that far-fetched. The reality is that stores use the holiday rush to move excess product to quickly turn a profit when they otherwise wouldn’t. And, with the proliferation of Thanksgiving evening “Black Friday” events, it doesn’t look like the sun has set on this phenomenon just yet. If there were no profit to be made, retailers would change direction completely. No one wants to make the same mistakes that Sears and JC Penney made.

In conclusion, shoppers in areas like Lancaster PA still depend on local shopping to supplement their Christmas lists. This is because there are just some sales you will never find online, and you just can’t duplicate the experience. At The Shops at Rockvale, we provide a pleasurable shopping experience that the whole family will enjoy. We hope to see you this holiday season!