Recently Amazon have been
reported as saying that they expect to see sales in the 3 months up to and
including December being lower than market expectations. Apple and Ebay are
also warning of weaker sales volumes, fearing a downturn in the online retail
market over Christmas.
High Street retailers also
fear for their Christmas sales (especially non-food and electricals) and after
reports estimating Christmas spending being around £1bn less this year, there is talk of a bitter
price war in the lead up to Christmas.
However in recent years,
we've had reports of huge Christmas spending and then of course the following
reports of worrying consumer debt. In essence, people spending more and more
money that they don't have over the Christmas period and funding this with more
credit and therefore more debt.
Can a Christmas price war
help the consumer and the retail market or will it just aid the high street and
encourage more consumer debt in challenging times? Should people be encouraged
to spend less and therefore create less debt at Christmas or would this only be
suggested in boom times?
