Christmas is Underway for Local Retailers

September 20 the National Retail Federation released its forecast for the upcoming 2007 holiday season -- predicting that sales would be weak for all but luxury items. Today begins the NRF series of releases going into more detail.

October 16 - Consumers to Take Conservative Approach to Holiday Shopping

• U.S. consumers plan to spend an average of $816.69 on holiday-related shopping.
• These shoppers will spend an additional $106.67 on special “non-gift” purchases by taking advantage of special promotions and discounts to treat themselves.
• This brings total planned holiday-related spending to $923.36, an increase of 3.7 percent from 2006.
• 40.3 percent of shoppers will begin holiday shopping before Halloween.
• Discounters can expect the most traffic as 68.4 percent of consumers plan to shop there (compared to 70.3% in 2006).
• Department Stores will also see a lion’s share of traffic as 58.2 percent will choose this format (vs. 61.6 percent last year).
• The Internet will once again play a crucial role for retailers this holiday season as consumers, on average, plan to do 30.2 percent of their shopping online compared to 28.9 percent in 2006.

Hot Local Retailers

Which of your local competitors are Hot Retailers?

You'll want to check out the National Retail Federation's latest study, the results of which appear in their August magazine.

Though the retail industry grew 6.4 percent as a whole last year, a handful of fiery companies served as the pace car for others to follow. Convenience stores and department stores head the list, but you'll see plenty of your other competitors also including Sbarro, Gymboree, Restoration Hardware and Jos. A. Banks.

There is plenty to learn from these leaders. Check it out.