The holidays may be over, but the sales are not.
Retailers typically continue promotions after Christmas, but some may be banking on this year’s extraordinarily successful holiday season. Sales, excluding autos between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24, rose 5.1% from the year before, making it the strongest sales year in six years, according to Mastercard
MA, -1.34%
U.S. consumers spent more than $850 billion this holiday season.
Also see: Cyber Monday was the biggest U.S. online shopping day in history
Companies have seen that shoppers have money — and $1 trillion in credit-card debt — and are looking for ways to keep them spending. Unlike sales spurred by a lack of consumer interest, these ongoing sales are unlikely to have the same choice as customers had on Black Friday, as they’re often used to get rid of returns and reduce excess inventory before the new season.
Post-Christmas sales also help some retailers grab the attention of people who would otherwise walk right by or, in the case of online shopping, click on by. Discounting popular products after Black Friday and Christmas, also helps companies re-connect with customers who may have decided to shop elsewhere, according to Utpal Dholakia, a marketing professor at Rice University.
See: The best time of the year to buy just about anything
Other retailers are taking a Black Friday approach, especially with electronics. Best Buy
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is selling select televisions for $500 less (and in some cases, $800 or $1,000 less). Walmart
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also has similar deals. Check out some of Best Buy’s deals here and judge for yourself: Some brands are likely to be better known to you than others. (Best Buy did not immediately respond to request for comment.)
Just like on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, consumers might want to hold off on certain television deals. For instance, these sales typically don’t include the most up-to-date models. Big-brand televisions also go on sale in January and February, when retailers are preparing for the Super Bowl, shopping experts say. Depending on how fussy you are about the model, you way want to hold off.
There are also a few items best bought just before or after New Year to buy. Along with televisions, January is known to bring better deals on bedding and linens. Department stores have “white sales,” which include bed sheets and towels. Consumers can also get fitness equipment at deep discounts, in line for new year’s resolutions around fitness and health.
Amazon
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has an entire page dedicated to year-end deals, which include toys, furniture, kitchen appliances and pet supplies, and other stores are promoting deep discounts leading into January. Most people have bought their share of toys for their children this season, so stores are trying to unload items.
Kohl’s
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is offering up to 70% off clearance items and Target
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has up to 50% off clearance clothes, toys, Christmas decor (too late for this year, obviously) and beauty products. Macy’s
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and JCPenney
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have between 15% and 20% off, or more, on select items. Numerous other brands are flooding email inboxes with their after-Christmas promotions.
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