Christmas in July isn't just a Hallmark movie trend because the summer lull is when retailers start to brace for the holiday onslaught. But with uncertainty over tariffs, many report they're concerned about what the merry season will bring in 2025.
Retailers are grappling with price increases and product availability for the upcoming holiday season, due to President Trump's ever-changing trade policies, according to an ABC News report. And because now is when retailers decide what to stock and how much of it to buy, stress abounds.
“The uncertainty has led us to spend all our time trying to rejigger what we’re ordering, where we’re bringing it in, when it’s going to get here,” Mac Harman, CEO of Balsam Hill parent company Balsam Brands, said to ABC. “We don’t know which items we’re going to have to put in the catalog or not."The U.S. toy industry, heavily reliant on Chinese imports, has been significantly impacted by tariffs, delaying production and affecting supply.
EMarketer advised retailers to highlight value and encourage consumers to "splurge" on themselves in small increments. "While we do expect total US holiday sales to rise a modest 1.2% YoY, per our forecast, consumer confidence is fragile and budgets will remain tight," its experts advised.
Salesforce recently reported that consumers are very conscious of the impact of tariffs on the price of goods. "Globally, 40% of consumers are only buying essential items in an effort to counteract the impact of tariffs, Salesforce said. Its data shows that 26% of consumers globally are holding back on discretionary and splurge purchases and 22% are stocking up before prices increase."