Holiday shopping off to early start amid economic uncertainty
Don't try to tell retailers it's too early for holiday shopping.
Toys R Us stopped accepting reservations because of high demand last month for the Tabeo tablet and Wii U game console as part of its new hot toy holiday reservations list, which allows consumers to reserve popular items for later in the season.
Walmart told investors earlier this week the company has already lined up $400 million in early holiday layaway sales in its program that launched a month earlier than last year. That is more than half the amount that shoppers put on hold in layaway at Walmart during all of last year's holiday season. Top items so far include 50-inch televisions, iPads and trampolines.
But there are still a lot of question marks about this holiday shopping season, which is the most important time of the year for most retailers.
The jobs report last week, which showed that unemployment dropped to 7.8 percent in September — the first time it has dipped below 8 percent in three years — has provided some good news heading into the holidays.
But lackluster economic growth — as well as the looming fiscal cliff with tax increases and deep spending cuts that could take effect early next year if Congress doesn't reaches a budget deal – is also weighing heavily on consumers, analysts say.
Still, the National Retail Federation is expecting a 4.1 percent increase in holiday sales this year – its most optimistic forecast since the recession. That is below the 5.6 percent increase in actual sales during last year's holiday season.
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