Spending and Saving

Christmas Starts in September

It’s just one day after Labor Day, but retailers already have their sights set on the Christmas holiday shopping season. Royal Caribbean, for one, is running a television campaign featuring a familiar holiday jingle. Coming off a summer of slumping sales, retailers are looking to hedge their bets against another depressing holiday season by starting early.

Some retailers have been at it for months; stores like Toys R Us have been luring customers with the promise of discounts on toys and retailers like Kmart and Sears have promoted a Christmas Club card program that rewards customers for shopping early—and often—for their holiday supplies.

So what’s in store for customers shopping early this holiday season? We took a closer look at a few of the biggest sales programs going on right now.

Kmart and Sears

The Deal: Kmart and Sears are giving customers who put money onto a Christmas Club Card—basically a gift card that can be used at either of the stores—3 percent back on all money loaded onto the card as a way of helping customers “save now” and plan ahead for the Christmas shopping season.
The Bonus: Since the promotion is being run together, customers can spend the money on their Christmas Club Card at either Kmart or Sears. And the stores offer online calculators to help customers determine how much they’ll need to load onto the card each week to meet their holiday budget goals.
The Downside: The 3 percent reward is only up to $100.

Toys “R” Us

The Deal: Toys “R” Us has been selling discounted products through its online Christmas Store since July, when it kicked off the season by inviting customers and their children into the stores nationwide for “a day of shopping, holiday-themed games and crafts.”
The Bonus: The discounted prices are meant to give parents the chance to buy their kids’ holiday presents early, without having to wait for the mad rush of Black Friday to find the best deals on toys and games.
The Downside: There’s no guaranteeing the store’s Christmas discounts won’t dip even further, which would completely negate the benefits of the deal.

Hallmark

The Deal: Hallmark has released half its ornaments during the second weekend in July for nearly 20 years. In an effort to ramp up sales, however, the retailer has been pushing a “major advertising effort” to promote its holiday gear, sending out holiday reminder emails to customers and positioning Christmas-colored countdown displays in stores nationwide.
The Bonus: Customers who respond to Hallmark’s holiday emails are eligible for special rewards online.
The Downside: Customers who stock up on holiday supplies before the company’s entire 2009 product line has been released may be missing out on certain products they’d otherwise be interested in buying.

QVC

The Deal: QVC gives customers a sneak peak at its Christmas product lineup by selling a few items early each summer. This year, however, the usual two or three items got bumped up to 11 holiday items, as a way to “bring customers a little more cheer” by getting them excited about the holidays early.
The Bonus: Early bird shoppers who buy in the summer get the chance to pick up holiday items—this year it was Cabbage Patch Kids and Eyeclops night-vision goggles, among others—months before anyone else.
The Downside: The summertime specials are really just a way for QVC to get an early read on how certain products are going to sell during the holidays so they can adjust their orders, so the special sales are actually a better deal for QVC than its customers.

Tags: deals, holidays, shopping