秋葵视频

The retail industry is in an 鈥渆ver-evolving state鈥� according to 秋葵视频 Associate Professor of Marketing Kathleen Gruben, and that can only mean good things for a holiday shopper. This holiday season shoppers are benefiting in several ways from competition among retailers.

• Service with a smile.

Smaller, brick-and-mortar retailers can鈥檛 often compete with the major department stores on the price tag, so they compensate with service. The benefits of shopping local and at smaller specialty stores, aside from the positive impact on the local economy, include better service, faster checkout and more knowledgeable associates.

• Layaway is back.

Layaway is a good way to make payments on an item without worrying about interest, but there are plenty of downsides, too. You can鈥檛 take the item home until it鈥檚 paid off, and any money put towards the item can be lost if payments are stopped. Most stores mark mid-December as the deadline to pay off an item purchased with layaway. 鈥淢ost layaway systems are going to require that you make regular payments,鈥� said Gruben. 鈥淎 lot of times you determine the frequency of the payments, but you have to make those payments. A lot of retailers will work with you on payments as long as you contact them, but they have an ending date. They want time to be able to re-sell the merchandise if payments aren鈥檛 made.鈥�

• A new way to price-match.

Many department stores offer price matching when a competitor offers the same product at a lower price, and a new trend is to offer consumers a gift card containing the difference in price. A reward for patience. Believe it or not, the best time to shop for deals is December 26. 鈥淎 lot of people don鈥檛 realize that retailers call the week after Christmas, 鈥楾he 13^th聽Month.鈥� They do so much volume that they do a month鈥檚 worth of business in a week,鈥� said Gruben. 鈥淧eople think of the day after Christmas as, 鈥楴ational Return Day,鈥� but what do people do when they return items? They get money, they spend it, and they spend more to get what they want. Plus, all those gift cards and checks that were exchanged are put to use because prices are marked down so much deeper during post-holiday sales.鈥�