Britt Beemer Percent Quotations

It costs some retailers as much as 20 percent per item to retag it, get it back on the shelf or rack and try to sell it again.

It costs some retailers as much as 20 percent per item to re-tag it, get it back on the shelf or rack and try to sell it again.

I think the big story of Christmas will be this shift in consumer attitudes where people felt that stores gouged them with their pricing strategy. The 30 to 40 percent discounts this year instead of the 50 to 70 percent off last year will help profits but will hurt customer loyalty in the long term.

Our research on holiday gift returns shows that it's only three percent of Americans who are real jerks and they indulge in consumer fraud and return abuse. The rest of us have to deal with the consequences.

I think retailers will hold prices up to 40 percent off before Christmas and then go even deeper in January to clear inventory. No doubt, heavy discounts help sales but they hurt profits. And retailers, more than ever, know that they have to answer to Wall Street and not Main Street.

Electronics is particularly hot cause there is nothing else that has created much excitement for consumers. Our research indicates that 44 percent of shoppers have completed their holiday shopping and about 20 percent still have to start it. This weekend we think more dollars will be spent overall. Apparel sales could benefit form colder weather but watch out for electronics to come out on top again.

The toy category continues to struggle. Our survey shows that this year 33.5 percent of weekend shoppers said they bought toys compared with 37.5 percent last year. The big surprise was electronics, which came in flat with last year at 19.7 percent. One reason for this could be that people simply couldn't find what they were looking for.

The toy category continues to struggle, ... Our survey shows that this year 33.5 percent of weekend shoppers said they bought toys compared with 37.5 percent last year. The big surprise was electronics, which came in flat with last year at 19.7 percent. One reason for this could be that people simply couldn't find what they were looking for.

That number is almost double from last year when only 20 percent of consumers polled has a similar response,

The trouble today with retailers is they can't afford to have too many underperforming stores. When 10 percent of your stores are unprofitable, you will start losing money. That wasn't the case years ago.