Get An Early Start on Christmas Shopping

Is it too soon to start hearing Christmas songs around Halloween time? That would be a bit weird, even creepy, perhaps. But some early Christmas shoppers likely will have Christmas Carols silently playing in their heads even before then. 

That's because shopping, much like Santa Claus, is a staple of Christmas.  Santa never gives away any secrets to shopping for all those gifts, but he must certainly have a strategy to be so successful every Yuletide season. The early Christmas shopper is someone who is very organized and has a plan to finish their Christmas shopping before the season kicks into high gear.

The day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday, is the official retail start to a shopping season that is always hoped to be a robust one. The strategy of retailers is to advertise Christmas sales, specials, pre-Christmas markdowns, giveaways, special-hour sales and other promotions. The reason for the frenzy of retail advertising during the Christmas season is because it is the single biggest shopping time of the year. Christmas shopping that begins the day after Thanksgiving accounts for well over half - with some estimates of up to 70% -- of annual revenue for stores.

Since retailers have a strategy for Christmas shoppers seeking the perfect gift, shoppers also need to implement their shopping plan. The savvy and early Christmas shopper is the one who may start silently singing Christmas Carols and songs very early to get in gear for shopping. Starting from as early as the beginning of October, the early Christmas shopper 

can begin to make lists of gifts and start browsing to check the availability, variety, and, most important, the price of items.

By browsing before the Christmas shopping season officially kicks off, the early Christmas shopper is more likely to get more bargains, better prices, and is also better able to do comparison shopping when the season officially kicks off. It's important to know that retailers won't offer true 'rock bottom' or 'close-out' sales, or the very lowest prices during Christmas sales. It's also important to remember that retailers are likely to offer earlier sales starting in early October to near mid-November.

The early Christmas shopper who already has gifts in mind can benefit from price markdowns during both sales periods. And of course, the early Christmas shopper will also have the benefit of shopping during the season, therefore extending the thrill 

and joy of shopping.

If there is any disadvantage to being an early Christmas shopper and doing Christmas shopping very early, it is that some retailers, particularly makers and sellers of toys, wait until the official start of the season to introduce some new items into stores. The strategy in doing this is to build anticipation for a new toy that they hope will be very popular and also to target and capture a larger majority of shoppers. 

What is most important for getting an early start to your Christmas shopping is to get the best deal and to do so with as little hassle as possible, by avoiding a crowded store, for example. Both of those will be accomplished for those who are organized and motivated to get into the spirit of Christmas before the season officially begins.