Is starting the holiday season earlier sound strategy? No it’s not. Clearly shoppers aren’t planning to start their shopping any earlier…there’s no change in their timing.
Marshal Cohen, Chief Industry Analyst, The NPD Group

Is earlier really better? If you are a retailer charged with growing your business year over year, then the answer is, “yes,” particularly when it comes to starting the holiday retail season. One consistent strategy to grow retail business has been to start the holiday shopping season earlier.

But, is that that a good business strategy with a solid foundation? Is it the intention of shoppers to begin their holiday buying earlier? Have the dates for, say, Christmas changed this year? Or even, do most people have a significantly bigger list to shop for this year?

The answer to at least one of those questions can be found in the most recent survey of Holiday Shopping Intentions conducted by The NPD Group. Survey respondents were asked “When will you begin your holiday shopping?” and their answers indicated they had no plans to change the timing of their shopping this year vs. last.

“Remember the good old days when the season didn’t start until after Halloween or Thanksgiving.  This year I’ve seen holiday decorations and merchandise out by mid- September in some places and that’s fueled by the need to grow the business.” says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for The NPD Group.  But is starting the holiday season earlier sound strategy? “No it’s not. Clearly shoppers aren’t planning to start their shopping any earlier…there’s no change in their timing. By pushing the shopping season earlier and earlier I think retailers are missing other opportunities. For instance, in much of the U.S. September is still grilling season, but try buying a grill then…they’ve been taken off the selling floors, replaced by holiday decorations.  That’s a missed opportunity for those grill sales, at a time when very few holiday items are actually being bought.”

There is an element of time that’s important to shoppers.  That is how they spend their time. 52% of the NPD survey respondents say they will spend time comparison shopping. But they don’t want to spend time navigating complicated return policies.  45% of respondents say they look for a store that has a simple hassle-free return policy.

When looking at some of the things that add value to time spent shopping the NPD survey results indicate that good value, good sales, good location, good products and good sales people make the time spent shopping more worthwhile.