The holidays may be behind us but that doesn’t mean the shopping is. Stores are still seeing customers looking for last-minute deals and trying to cash in on their holiday cash.
Malls in the area were busy Monday, including the North Shore Mall in Peabody, Massachusetts. Crowds of shoppers were ready to exchange items and use gift cards they received for the holidays.
“For us, we saw a large uptick in last minute shopping and clearly benefited from that,” the mall’s general manager said.
Mark Whiting says seeing customers back in person in a big way this year is a welcome sight. Many have been opting for in-store purchases and he says Mother Nature likely played a small part in that this year.
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“We had excellent traffic here,” he said. “I think frankly, we had a great holiday season weather wise. No disruptions unlike what some customers experienced with packages.”
Some customers say certain price tags are coming with a bit of sticker shock this year as inflation continues to be a big concern.
“We went into one of the stores particularly and saw a huge increase in prices from last year in the same items,” said Yeidyly Vergne.
Offers to buy now and pay later when shopping online may sound enticing, but there are some warnings that Consumer Reports is flagging.
Many say they worked around their budgets this year to make it work.
The Retailers Association of Massachusetts has predicted a 10% increase in holiday shopping sales this year, which is slightly better than what’s being projected nationally.
It’s something Vivek Seth says he’s happy to hear.
“More spending is good,” Seth said. “It’s better for the economy, can hire more people, and just get back to pre-COVID time. That’s what we want.”
Whiting says retailers won’t know the exact numbers for their holiday season until exchanges and returns are complete but will likely have those numbers in a few weeks. He says retailers are hoping to keep consumers happy with various deals and offerings, in hopes of turning a return into an exchange. He says if you do have to make an exchange, the deals will likely be in place until Sunday.
Local Malls Crowded Day After Christmas as Sales Continue
