With the arrival of the christmas seasonmillions of people face the same question: when is the best time to buy gifts? In a context in which the prices constantly fluctuate, and with trade events like the Black Friday and the Cyber Monday marking the agenda discountsmaking informed decisions can be challenging.
This year, the panorama of christmas shopping has been influenced by a slowdown in the inflation and a projection of spent higher than in previous years, adding another layer of complexity to consumer decisions.
NBC News analyzed how the prices of popular products over time. Through weekly monitoring since July, the research made it possible to determine how the main retailerslike Amazon, Walmart, Target y Best Buythey adjust their prices to capture the attention of consumers.
The tracking of prices reveals that the consumers They are immersed in a constant game of strategy. According to NBC News, los retailers have adopted more aggressive tactics to offer discounts competitive in popular products. Amazonleader in e-commercehas set the pace of the promotionswhile their rivals rush to match or even surpass their offers.
One of the main conclusions is that the sales are not limited to Black Friday or to Cyber Monday. Instead, the retailers make reductions of prices unexpected throughout the entire seasonforcing buyers to stay alert to take advantage of the best opportunities. Bring Bodgea consumer expert, describes this phenomenon as “a race, a game,” in which patience can be rewarded, but does not guarantee success.
To offer a more concrete perspective, NBC News followed the prices of five popular products in key categories, considered as potential bestsellers according to Consumer Reports, Wirecutter y Wired:
- Auriculares Apple AirPods Pro 2 (Electronics): These headphones are a preferred choice for their sound quality and active noise cancellation. During tracking, they hit their lowest price last weekend, showing how deals can emerge ahead of big events. shopping.
- Magna-Tiles (Toys): This educational building game has gained popularity among parents looking innovative gifts for children. The trends of prices suggest that the discounts They can appear at any time season.
- Ninja 12-Cup Programmable Coffee Maker (kitchen appliances): This item, highly sought after for its versatility and capacity, also hit its lowest price recently, proving that early deals can be strategic for those planning their shopping.
- Reebok Club C Sneakers (Clothing and footwear): retro fashion icon, these sneakers have shown discounts stable since the summer, with significant reductions in key stores such as Amazon y Target.
- 65-inch TCL TV (Televisions): as is usual in the Black Fridaylos televisions become one of the products more discounted. This model, in particular, is an example of how discounts in technology they tend to increase as the date approaches.
This year, the consumers They face a more stable economic environment compared to previous seasons. The inflationwhich dominated the headlines for much of the last few years, has declined to normal levels, although prices in general they remain high. According to a survey of PwC59% of consumers keep considering the inflation as a determining factor in their decisions buy.
However, optimism is beginning to make itself felt. The confidence levels of the consumer have shown an upward trend in the last four months, which, combined with the competitive discountsis driving an increase in the projected expenditure. According to PwChe average expense per person during these holidays will reach $1,638which represents an increase of 7% compared to last year.
The growth of Christmas spending It is not only reflected in the individual figures. According to Adobelas total online sales during the holidays they will exceed 240 billion dollarsan increase of 8.4% compared to the previous year and the largest annual increase since the start of the pandemic. This behavior reflects not only the economic recovery, but also the increasing focus on digital purchases.
More than half of this spent will be driven by sectors such as electronicsthe clotheslos furniture and the household items. Los technological productslike the AirPods and the televisionswill continue to be major protagonists thanks to their high demand and aggressive discounts offered by the retailers.
