Holiday Shopping: Going Crazy for Bargains and Sales?

If the supply is perceived as limited, people go crazy to buy! (Wikipedia image)

Retailers love the holidays. The National Retail Federation (NRF) of the U.S. says holiday purchases can comprise up to 40 percent of a retailer’s yearly sales. With this spike in consumer sales at the end of the year, it’s no wonder that some stores rely on the year-end rush to turn a good profit before the cycle begins again in the next year.

Coming from a financial downturn, the sales figures can only go up and both retailers and wholesalers can only make the most of it through tried and tested marketing methods which turn on the consumers. Market experts and consumer psychologists say it’s the limited-time offers that excite the consumer to buy. The buyer knows for a fact that if they don’t act fast, they lose out on all the good stuff. There’s also this competitive rush that they get when they know others are out to get to their prized product.

Psychologists say that the lure of the bargain is naturally hard to resist and it’s what makes consumers less rational and more emotional. This means they act more on impulse rather than thinking first before taking an item to the counter. Marketing professor Kenneth Manning says the many cues in a retail environment can make people feel they are getting a good deal. The decision-making turns emotional [instead of logical].

The crazy shopping spree madness somehow feeds the primitive hunting and gathering tendencies of people. It’s like survival in the modern world and the retailers know that if they put all the stops and deadlines, consumers become more competitive. It’s like buyers give in to their more primitive tendencies to survive and no longer care if they step on the foot of others.

It’s clear what sellers can learn from the natural tendencies of consumers, but what can the buyer on a budget learn from all this? It’s simple. If you don’t want to spend too much on Black Friday or Christmas sales, then take a “logical Vulcan” with you to be your conscience! That should dampen your buying spirits a bit and save you money!

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