I was fortunate to get to five shops I am connected with yesterday – three newsagencies and two card and gift shops. Cards are strong all over – now is where I would love a card full of backup stock. Calendars are doing very well. Nothing is discounted except for the remaining small range of Advent calendars. Magazines are strong in economically weaker areas.
What surprised me was the number of other stores discounting – 50% off Christmas cards, gifts and calendars. But they are not screaming discount. It is a more passive approach and in one case something you know hear about only when you are in the store.
In one centre Calendar Club is discounting calendars at 25% off and in another centre Calendar Club is selling the same calendars at full price.
I went looking for a calendar for my daughter this weekend. Big W had 20% off and Target had 50% off. As a consumer, I went with the Target option as it saved me money after a long expensive weekend of shopping. Watching other shoppers mill around the various “specials” sections, I guess it is what ‘most’ consumers are looking for this christmas….a good deal.
Niall, We have been lucky in that most of our calendar range is unqiue to us in our centre – even from Target thankfully.
Mark