A 3% increase in expected general retail sales this holiday season, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, may as well translate to a 3% increase in the difficulty of easily and cheaply completing the typical holiday shopping list. Last month, Black Friday and Cyber Monday likely foreshadowed the chaos of the upcoming holiday rush by surging beyond expectations – ABC News estimates the average shopper spent $400 on Black Friday alone and Huffington Post declares this past Cyber Monday was the biggest online shopping day in history.
With electronics and gift cards often dominating those gift sales, a problem lies in resources and ideas for unique, affordable presents remaining hidden to most. The Internet has always served as a gift guide haven but a new trend appears to be news publications, inspired from entertainment magazines, offering their best shopping advice exclusively online. The New York Times features a new, free gift guide on their website, as does the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, with suggestions ranging from coupons for local theater plays to $200 in-ear headphones. Offline and closer to home, creative gifts can be found outside the familiarity of drugstores and malls.
“I go to Red Lobster. I know it might sound weird but it’s turned into a tradition with my friends. They always ask me ‘Why did you get me a to-go lobster?’ and I just tell them ‘Merry Christmas!’” junior Catherine Rudder said, before adding that she does indeed buy more traditional gifts for those not as accepting to jokes.
Hatred towards Black Friday is usually caused by shoppers fighting each other to get to their desired presents first but whereas Black Friday is limited to a 24-hour-period, holiday sales thrive for weeks and still holiday shopping is Black Friday’s twin when it comes down to shopping competition.
“It’s hard to shop in the holiday rush, too many agitated soccer moms buying expensive gifts for their spoiled brats!” junior Lauren Satterwhite said.
At first, avoiding procrastination to buy seems like the sole solution but shopping at an earlier time literally has a bigger cost.
“It always gets cheaper the closer to the holiday … the last couple of days before Christmas are when you see the best deals,” financial advisers from dailyfinance.com report.
In a positive light, the conflict of spending vs. competition is all the more reason to seek out new resources and ideas for holiday shopping. Easy, cheap holiday shopping should always be a gift for yourself, even if it means getting a lobster.
