The Sound of the Season
Retailers can expect their cash registers to be singing a joyful tune this upcoming holiday season.
That’s because U.S. consumers say they will spend an average $967.13 this year, according to the annual survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics for the National Retail Federation (NRF).
This is an increase of 3.4 percent from the $935.58 consumers said they would spend when surveyed at the same time last year. This year, nearly 7,400 consumers participated in the NRF survey.
Overall holiday retail sales in November and December are expected to be up between 3.6 percent and 4 percent for a total between $678.8 billion and $682 billion.
“With employment and incomes increasing, consumers are more confident this year and that is reflected in their buying plans for the holidays,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Retailers have been stocking up in expectation of this, and all signs are that this will be a busy holiday season.”
According to the NRF, holiday spending comes in three main categories — gifts, at $608.06; items such as food, decorations, flowers and greeting cards, at $218.08; and other non-gift items consumers buy for themselves and their families, at $140.99.
And it’s a bit of a tossup when it comes to where consumers plan to shop this holiday season. The top three shopping destinations this year are online (59 percent), department stores (57 percent) and discount stores (54 percent). And they are just getting started. Most consumers (59 percent) are waiting until at least November to begin their holiday shopping.
We’ll have the final results in a little more than seven weeks.
Stay tuned!
Walmart Plans to Party This Holiday Season
Walmart is cranking up the holiday spirit in its stores this season. The retailer is throwing more than 20,000 holiday parties at its Supercenters and is increasing product demos to 165,000 across the season. Customers can test and taste top items, so they can feel like a rock star when purchasing the perfect gift for their loved ones. Three themed parties will be thrown at Walmart stores across the season, including: Toys that Rock (Nov. 4), Parties that Rock (Dec. 2), and Gifts that Rock (Dec. 16). The Toys that Rock event will mark the start of Santa’s visits to Walmart as he makes more than 24,000 visits across the entire season.
Whole Foods Hiring Event to Add 6,000 New Employees
On Nov. 2, Whole Foods Market is hosting a National Hiring Day at all of its U.S. stores with a goal of hiring 6,000 new employees. The company is looking to fill full-time and part-time opportunities for both seasonal and permanent positions in all of its departments. The grocer offers competitive pay and benefits for employees including a 20 percent in-store discount as well as medical and dental benefits. To learn more about National Hiring Day, visit www.joinwholefoods.com.
Home Depot Strengthens Eco Options Program
The Home Depot’s 2017 Responsibility Report recently unveiled newly strengthened chemical oversight practices in five product categories. The company also is increasing its protection of high conservation value forests and landscapes by not accepting any wood products from the Amazon and Congo, unless it is Forest Stewardship Council certified. “We recognize the role we play in the value chain for home improvement products,” said Ron Jarvis, vice president of environmental innovation. “We believe that better transparency is the key to retailers and consumers making better purchasing decisions that will improve our industry’s long-term environmental impact.”
Video Library 
