Standing in the aisle surrounded by wreaths, candy canes, and images of Santa Claus, my Pavlovian holiday shopping responses took over. Holiday warmth started filling my heart. A twinkle took over my eyes. Instinctively, my ears started searching for Christmas music. That’s when confusion set in. Like a needle scratching a record, the whole experience came to an abrupt halt. There was no Christmas music. Why? It was the beginning of October!
Very quickly, what was a few weeks of holidays has now stretched into months. In fact, according to MNTN Research active Christmas campaigns doubled year over year in September. They call it “Christmas Creep”. What brought on the sudden change? Is it a good thing, a bad thing, or just a thing? How can you keep the up-sized holiday shopping season from draining your bank account?
Breaking down the why
There are a few reasons why the holidays have supersized.
Retailers are adjusting
Retailers are learning from experience. They keep track of spending trends and have noticed people buying earlier in the year. To accommodate, they are stocking shelves sooner. Retailers also benefit by being able to spread out the work and cost of managing the influx of inventory. This is especially important because, with the addition of more notable holiday dates like Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday, they have a lot more to juggle. New and better logistic and planning tools, such as AI, have been particularly helpful to retailers in this arena. Lastly, competition has levelled up. Some big competitors, mainly Amazon, are taking big swings at holiday budgets with things like Prime Days. To keep up, retailers need to use every tool and strategy at their disposal to stay on top of their game.
Shoppers are adjusting
Shoppers are pushing the needle on the holiday season as well. For a while now many financial experts have been recommending that people buy and plan holiday shopping earlier. People seem to be heeding that advice. They’re scouting out gifts earlier so they have a better chance of getting a good deal. This is particularly helpful since bank accounts are strained by inflation. That’s one side of the coin. The other side is that along with a longer holiday shopping season comes more time to spend. Consciously or unconsciously, people are just naturally taking part and spending more. Retailers aren’t going to say no to helping people make their stockings extra stuffed.
Extended holiday season: Naughty or nice?
As with most things, there’s some good and bad to a lengthy holiday shopping season.
Nice
- Many of us like a good deal! This new trend gives us more chances to satisfy the deal itch.
- Whether it’s the lights, music or flavours, some people really enjoy the warmth of the holidays. They get even more time to soak in these simple pleasures.
- Just like retailers, shoppers get to spread out their holiday work and costs.
- More competition is better for shoppers. It keeps prices in check.
Naughty
- Some people may get tempted to overspend their holiday budget.
- We all know that there can be too much of a good thing. Extending the holiday experience runs the risk of the novelty wearing off on people. In fact, some people are already showing signs of holiday exhaustion.
- A favourite retail strategy is to create a sense of urgency. Seeing stores decorated and stocked for Christmas, for many, elicits this “urgency” response and creates stress.
Holiday shopping stress
You may have noticed that each of the points on the naughty list is connected to stress. While stress isn’t good at any point in time, it can be particularly concerning around the holidays. It’s not uncommon for people to use shopping as a coping mechanism for stress. This can often lead to overspending. During the holidays, people are already in an amped-up shopping mindset. They’re also more likely to be in proximity to stores and temptation. All these factors make overspending even more likely. Below are a few tips for handling stress and avoiding overspending during this supersized holiday shopping season.
- Build a holiday budget and stick to it.
- If you want to enjoy the holiday cheer, but don’t want to spend leave your money and payment cards at home.
- Use stress relief tools like deep breathing, going for a walk, or writing down a few things you’re grateful for.
If you got wrapped up in the spirit of the holidays and ended up spending more than you planned, Consolidated Credit Canada can help. Our trained counsellors have helped thousands of Canadians regain control of their finances. Contact one of them today for a free consultation.
