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In-store experience still trumps ease of online shopping

Books & Co. Merchandising Specialist Marj Moore sets up a display of the holiday books for the Christmas shopping season Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009.

Jim Witmer Books & Co. Merchandising Specialist Marj Moore sets up a display of the holiday books for the Christmas shopping season Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009.

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By John Nolan, Staff Writer Updated 6:45 PM Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Sure, it’s easy to do your holiday shopping online, but if merchants aren’t working to pull shoppers in to stores the day after Thanksgiving, they’re missing out, industry watchers said.

“People get excited about all the preparations associated with the holiday season. It puts them in a good mood,” said Sharon Kelly Roth, spokeswoman for Books & Co. at The Greene shopping center, where employees arranged displays this week to catch shoppers’ eyes.

Merchants have learned that online marketing is effective for advertising, in some cases weeks in advance, the bargains that will be available in their stores the day after Thanksgiving, said Irene Dickey, a University of Dayton marketing lecturer who studies retailing patterns.

“It gives consumers the information that we’re hungry for, and creates excitement,” Dickey said. “Stores wouldn’t be very strategic if they didn’t do both. Multi- channel marketing is the norm right now.”

Although online sales are increasing annually, they still account for only 6 to 8 percent of total retail sales, said Ellen Davis, vice president of the National Retail Federation.

Despite the convenience of online shopping from home or the office, shoppers who enjoy the experience of plying crowded store aisles and hunting down bargains are unlikely to give that up, others said.

“It’s tradition,” said Rochelle Howard of Farmersville. “I buy some things over the computer, but, for the most part, I like to touch and feel things. If it’s clothes, I like to try them on.”

“I still like the fun of it,” said Leronda Lucky, who recalls doing annual post-Thanksgiving shopping trips for at least 20 years, and enlists friends for a team approach to help her buy items in multiple stores. “I love the bargains. I don’t want to pay full price for anything.”

Lucky said she planned to close her Kettering business, LFL Insurance Agency on Friday so she could shop.

Accounting firm Deloitte & Touche, which does an annual holiday shopping survey of consumers, projects that shoppers will spend 1 percent less this year than they did during the 2008 holiday season. But that is better economic news than the 9 percent drop-off in spending that consumers anticipated in 2008 from the prior year, said Ed Bentley, a partner in Deloitte’s Dayton office.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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