Buyer Beware: Holiday ‘Must Haves’ Could Fly Off Store Shelves
The holiday season won’t be very merry for Americans hoping to give — or get — Amazon’s Kindle, Apple’s iPod Touch or a top-of-the-line LCD television.
Those much sought after hot items will be few and far between.
Electronic gadgets are always a big holiday favorite.
But this year, with retailers slashing prices in a tight economy, popular gift-giving items like electronics, video games and TV’s are expected to clear store shelves well ahead of Christmas, say retail analysts.
“It’s been a very difficult year for retailers and the holiday season isn’t expected to be strong,” says Nancy Koehn, a professor at Harvard Business School.
Koehn says the harsh sales environment is forcing retailers to slash prices to get buyers in the aisles.
But many big top retailers also are cutting back inventory levels on higher priced items to prevent unplanned markdowns at the end of the season.
“By tightening inventory, stores will be creating demand for popular items, particularly those in a higher price range so you should expect to see a lot of early buzz for popular items in some stores,” Koehn says.
