December 20, 2024

Big Retailers Gear Up to Compete for Early Holiday Spending

business people have a meeting about company statistics
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Key Takeaways

  • Retail giants Target, Walmart, and Amazon are launching competing sales events beginning next week.
  • The companies hope to benefit from price-conscious consumers who want to start their holiday shopping early.
  • Walmart said nearly 50% of U.S. shoppers started their holiday shopping as early as August or September this year.

Retailers are hoping to take advantage of customers who are ready to get an early start on their holiday shopping, with Amazon ( AMZN ), Target ( TGT ), and Walmart ( WMT ) all holding holiday sales events starting next week.

Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days, a fall version of its summer retail juggernaut, Amazon Prime Day , will last the days of Oct. 8 and 9. Its competitors’ promotions run longer, as Target hosts its second Target Circle Week of the year from Oct. 6 through Oct. 12, and Walmart runs a Holiday Deals event from Oct. 8 through Oct. 13.

Walmart said that it expects roughly half of American consumers to start their holiday shopping as early as August and September, and said “people remain price-conscious and plan ahead to maximize their holiday budgets.”

Fall Sales Events Follow Busiest Prime Day Ever

Target and Walmart aimed to compete with Amazon’s Prime Day, but their events took place in the weeks leading up to it. Amazon’s Prime Day turned out to be the busiest online shopping day of the year, with the company declaring it their most successful Prime Day to date .

The fall event is typically smaller in overall sales than summer’s Prime Day, but retailers are likely looking for any sales boost they can find after citing low discretionary spending as a drag on earnings in recent quarters .

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