Consumer behaviour changes dramatically

Sorry Sky City casino but the dangling of carrots like $20,000 doesn’t work anymore to get hard up people through the door.

They don't have the $20 to get a cab to the place!

Consumer behaviour is changing -and now with the recession

major changes are happening

Over the past year, shoppers have drastically changed their spending habits in ways not seen since the 1970s, switching to store brands and discounters like Wal-Mart. During the holiday shopping season, they cut back on their spending, took advantage of big discounts and bought practical gifts.

This AP writer notes One of the big worries for stores is what to do with the mounds of items they still have to sell. If 75 percent off before Dec. 25 didn’t make people splurge, will even bigger deals afterward do the trick? Another problem is that shoppers shunned gift cards this season. That means they are less likely to return to the stores after the holiday.

“The new consumer mantra for this coming year is: If I don’t need it, I won’t buy it,” said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America’s Research Group. “America has going from a consuming society to a planned-buying society. Everything is focused on saving more money.”

The retail industry could be looking at its biggest contraction in 35 years, according to Burt P. Flickinger, III, managing director of consulting firm Strategic Resource Group. He estimates that 160,000 stores will have closed in 2008 and predicts that an additional 200,000 will shutter next year. In March and April of 2009, Flickinger expects 2,000 to 3,000 malls to shutter.

A number of stores struggled just to make it to Christmas. Circuit City Stores filed for bankruptcy protection last month. It plans to keep operating, but KB Toys, which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month, has already begun to liquidate all of its stores and will shut down completely.

Finlay Fine Jewelry, which operates stores such as Bailey Banks & Biddle, warned a week ago that it may not have enough cash to operate through the end of its fiscal year on Jan. 31, and may have to “significantly curtail” its business.

In Christmases past, stores could rely on a surge before or after the holiday to help save the season. But this year, it was virtually over before it began as stores had to slash prices on holiday goods as soon as they hit the shelves.