Post-Christmas Sales Seriously Affected by Winter Conditions

This winter has surely made its presence and influence felt as it didn’t only affect traffic by blocking roads and airport terminals, but also “freezing” sales. What was known as the healthy and vigorous post-holiday shopping season took a hit, as the weekend came with snow storms and blizzard, keeping many shoppers at home.

Speaking of the effects of such winter weather conditions, Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, said: “The day after Christmas is huge for retailers. The storm clearly delivered a setback for retailers who live and die by Christmas sales.”

Sunday and Monday came with heavy snowfalls and blizzard which dumped about a foot of “white dust” on Greater Boston. The hazardous meteorological conditions determined retailers to close their shops early on Sunday despite the fact that the 26th of December is considered as one of the year’s ten busiest days of shopping. Thus, the two days that are normally considered crucial for stores’ after-Christmas sales proved disappointing.

Some consider the event as one of small significance, but this is not what Britt Beemer from market-tracker America’s Research Group thinks. He called the lost traffic as “deadly”, adding the following: “When a retailer loses a day (around) Christmastime, 85 percent of that volume never returns.” Translating Mr Beemer’s assessment, it ensues that 0.5 percentage points of stores’ December holiday sales are off due to this lost “momentum”.