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- The holiday shopping season is beginning earlier each year, significantly influenced by Amazon.
- Amazon’s 48-hour sales event is currently active alongside promotions from other major retailers.
- Target initiated its promotional activities on Sunday, with Costco also participating.
Welcome to Green October: The New Shopping Season
The traditional Black Friday has been overshadowed by an emerging trend known as Green October.
This year’s holiday shopping season has commenced earlier than ever before, primarily due to Amazon advancing its Prime Day sales event.
With Thanksgiving and Christmas falling closer together this year than usual, the e-commerce giant is shifting the start of consumer spending into early October.
A Shift in Retail Dynamics
In contemporary retailing, numerous competitors are keenly observing and adapting their strategies based on Amazon’s moves to remain relevant in a competitive market.
As part of this trend, Amazon has progressively moved its 48-hour sale forward—from October 11-12 in 2022 to October 10-11 in 2023—and now scheduled for October 8-9 this year. Major retailers are responding with their own promotions aimed at capturing consumer spending during this period.
Target was quick off the mark: it launched its Circle Week promotions early on Sunday. Meanwhile, Walmart plans to kick off its Deals event online on Tuesday and will extend these offers into physical stores starting Wednesday.
The ripple effect of these promotional efforts has even prompted Costco—a retailer not typically known for chasing trends—to join the fray with a Member Savings Event that began Monday. This marks a significant shift as Costco usually waits until November for holiday savings initiatives.
The Consumer Spending Landscape
If we were looking at a longer-than-usual gap between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it would still be logical for retailers to encroach further into pre-Halloween sales events like these.
This past year has taught retailers an important lesson: consumers are willing to spend when prices align favorably with their expectations. As inflation rates have stabilized somewhat, American shoppers have shown readiness to indulge in celebrations and special occasions once again.
A Celebration of Discounts
This presents an excellent opportunity for retailers—creating a new “holiday” centered around deals can effectively launch an entire season filled with festivities!
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