Abasto Magazine

ENGLISH BONUS T he end of year holidays always brings a special time of year. With nostalgic music, lights, time spent with family, good food and presents, it is a season that brings together warmth and magic. It is also time for retailers to work their hardest. How so? e holiday season is the strongest sales period in the year for retailers. Retailers begin preparing themselves for the winter season months ahead of time because it always brings a huge skyrocket in sales and every year, the preparation seems to start earlier. e holiday season starts on anksgiving weekend with Black Friday being the leading sales and traffic day of the whole season and continues to the end of January, according to a Gallup, an analytics and advice company, study on Statista. e study goes on to say that Black Friday sales are closely followed by the Saturday before Christmas Eve. Sales peak up again in January after New Year's as many people redeem their received Christmas gift cards. According to Statista, U.S. consumers were asked which types of gifts they would like to receive for Christmas during a survey in October 2017, where 44% responded gift cards or gift certificates. During the holiday season, many retailers extend their return policy and set special shipping deadlines for guaranteed Christmas delivery in order to improve their customer-friendly service, according to a Gallup study on Statista. Hispanics are a big help for retailers when it comes to sales because they don't just celebrate American holidays, but also celebrate holidays connected with their native country, such as Las Posadas (Dec. 16-24), Noche Buena (Dec. 24) and ree Kings' Day (Jan. 6). is means double the retail engagement and purchasing. Hispanics are two times as likely to do the majority of their shopping on Black Friday vs. non-Hispanics (45% vs. 22%), according to Univision through a Mintel Oxygen, Winter Holiday Shopping, U.S. report. Food is also an important part of holiday sales. Hispanics are among the top three ethnicities to spend the most on food during the holidays, following after African Americans (19%) and Asian Americans (14%) at 13%, accord- ing to a 2016 Nielsen study. In 2007, eggnog consumption nationwide was 122 million pounds with peak sales occurring the week before anksgiving, the weeks of Christmas and just after Christmas, according to a study by Indiana University Kelley School of Business. Eggs are also popular and used in many recipes, with more than 7.9 billion eggs being consumed during the 2014 anksgiving and Christmas holidays from November and December, according to the Incredible egg (American Egg Board) through the USDA. A 2017 report by the NRF showed that holi- day shoppers ranked sales and price discounts, product quality and selection, and free shipping as the top factors in deciding where to shop. Holiday season: benefits for retailers Por Kimberly Olivera HISPANICS CELEBRATE AMERICAN HOLIDAYS AS WELL AS HOLIDAYS FROM THEIR NATIVE COUNTRY. 74 abasto.com | Noviembre/Diciembre 2018

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