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Amazon, Walmart and Target after-Christmas sales close out successful shopping season

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Amazon, Walmart and Target after-Christmas sales close out successful shopping season

Does it feel like the holiday season has been a rush? It has been, thanks to a calendar with fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Clearance sales are now rounding out the year.

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That’s a wrap on the holiday shopping season. What’s next? Clearance sales and returns.

Retailers are unleashing a bounty of bargains to spur spending through the end of 2024, which appears to be surpassing 2023 in dollars spent, despite a shortened shopping season.

Happening now: Target’s Holiday Clearance Event, which promises up to 50% off some categories and even steeper discounts on holiday-related items, Amazon‘s Winter Sale, Walmart‘s end-of-year clearance, and Best Buy‘s Ring in the New Year Sale – each of which have up to 50% or more on select products.

“Whether you’re celebrating later, using a new gift card or getting a jump start on next year, we have deep discounts across our entire assortment to make it easy for everyone to find great deals and extend the joy of the holiday season,” Rick Gomez, Target’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer, said in a news release.

With shoppers looking to spend gift cards in stores between now and the new year, retailers also expect to see an influx of consumers with returns – a 17% increase over the rest of the year, according to the National Retail Federation – and have hired additional staffing and gotten third-party logistics providers to make that process go smoother.

“Returns play an important role within the retail ecosystem and offer an additional touchpoint for retailers to provide a positive interaction with their customers,” Katherine Cullen, the federation’s vice president of industry and consumer insights, said in a news release.

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2024 holiday retail sales surpass last year

Despite the calendar squeezing the annual shopapalooza into fewer days – Thanksgiving and Black Friday hit a week later than a year ago – U.S. retail sales surpassed 2023 with a 3.8% increase, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse retail analytics.

Online sales were up 6.7% over a year ago between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24, while in-store sales were up 2.9%, Mastercard SpendingPulse’s preliminary data suggests. 

“The holiday shopping season revealed a consumer who is willing and able to spend but driven by a search for value as can be seen by concentrated e-commerce spending during the biggest promotional periods,” Michelle Meyer, chief economist at the Mastercard Economics Institute, said in a news release. “Solid spending during this holiday season underscores the strength we observed from the consumer all year, supported by the healthy labor market and household wealth gains.”

Amazon, Walmart, Target and other retailers kicked off the shopping season with early Black Friday events to help drive traffic. Overall, retail spending during 2024’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday weeks rose 3.7% over a year ago, according to research firm Circana.

The Saturday before Christmas, dubbed “Super Saturday,” brought more shoppers into malls, department stores and big box retailers such as Walmart and Target than on any other Saturday during the holiday season – and more than the 2024 daily average – according to analytics firm Placer.ai, which estimates visits to locations by tracking millions of devices and using machine learning.

Retailers had hoped that Super Saturday sales could offset last year’s lengthier shopping season. “The measurement of this holiday season is very different this year,” said Marshal Cohen, chief retail industry advisor for Circana, in a report last week. “Amid the race to the finish, marketers are smart to extend their thinking, as this season is presenting lessons that will be critical in planning for Holiday 2025.” 

The 2025 holiday shopping season has less than four weeks between Black Friday (Nov. 28) and Christmas.

Target’s Holiday Clearance Event deals

Target’s Holiday Clearance Event includes deals on clothing, shoes, beauty, toys, holiday decor and more, for a limited time while supplies last. You can shop in stores and on Target.com and in the Target app. Members of Target Circle, the retailer’s free loyalty program, can find personalized deals in app and have them automatically applied at checkout.

Here’s some of the deals:

  • 50% or more off on select holiday family sleepwear, beauty gift sets and holiday decor.
  • Up to 50% off on toys across categories such as games, dolls and plush, plus select clothing and shoes, jewelry and accessories and sporting goods including bikes.
  • 30% or more off on select holiday candy.

Walmart’s Clearance sale deals

Clearance deals in stores and on Walmart.com include holiday decorations, such as 70% off on artificial Christmas trees and 80% off a portable power station (clearance priced at $139.99).

Best Buy’s Ring in the New Year sale deals

Deals at the electronics retailer’s sale, which runs to Dec. 31 (limited quantities, no rainchecks) include $1,500 or more off on select TVs, including $2,000 off a 98-inch LG OLED 4K UHD TV (sale price, $3,999.99).

Amazon’s Winter Sale deals

The ecommerce giant’s limited time deals include up to 40% off on Amazon Fire TVs and 50% off Beats wireless headphones.

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.

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