WEBVTT 00:00:00.009 --> 00:00:02.508 Well, this year with inflation and rising interest rates 00:00:02.519 --> 00:00:05.408 , many Americans say that they have smaller budgets for 00:00:05.419 --> 00:00:08.390 holiday shopping. So here today to help us stretch 00:00:08.398 --> 00:00:11.810 our dollar while shopping is Adam Davis, managing director 00:00:11.819 --> 00:00:14.698 at Wells Fargo Retail Finance. Adam, welcome. 00:00:15.630 --> 00:00:19.350 Thank you. How aware are retailers that Americans might 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:23.239 be working with smaller budgets this year? So the 00:00:23.250 --> 00:00:27.219 the retailers are keenly aware of the health of the 00:00:27.228 --> 00:00:31.000 consumer, but more specifically their consumer. And so 00:00:31.010 --> 00:00:34.939 I think that's why you've seen holiday sales pull forward 00:00:34.950 --> 00:00:36.689 um from, you know, it's not a new 00:00:36.700 --> 00:00:38.408 trend, but it's something that we've seen over the 00:00:38.418 --> 00:00:41.048 last few years this year, in particular, starting 00:00:41.060 --> 00:00:44.259 kind of September, October and then the lines have 00:00:44.270 --> 00:00:48.118 blurred quite a bit as it relates to Black Friday 00:00:48.439 --> 00:00:51.579 , Cyber Monday and kind of where you can get 00:00:51.590 --> 00:00:54.259 the best deals. What should shoppers be doing today 00:00:54.270 --> 00:00:56.319 to make sure that they get the best deals on 00:00:56.329 --> 00:01:00.728 their must haves. So they should definitely be researching 00:01:00.740 --> 00:01:04.230 their favorite brands, retailers um signing up for newsletters 00:01:04.239 --> 00:01:07.549 also investigating if, if, if they were to 00:01:07.558 --> 00:01:08.939 use a credit card for holiday, purchasing a lot 00:01:08.948 --> 00:01:12.750 of credit cards, ultimately you know, provide um 00:01:12.760 --> 00:01:18.579 exclusive discounts, uh promotional um items as it relates 00:01:18.588 --> 00:01:22.239 to, you know, uh extra points. And 00:01:22.250 --> 00:01:23.969 so it's, it's a matter of doing some research 00:01:23.980 --> 00:01:25.750 ahead of time. Um You know, a lot 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:27.959 of retailers have already announced their Black Friday sales to 00:01:27.969 --> 00:01:30.500 try to capture as much as possible even this week 00:01:30.838 --> 00:01:34.719 . Are there better deals on some tech items than 00:01:34.730 --> 00:01:37.459 others during the holidays? Some of these bigger ticket 00:01:37.469 --> 00:01:41.469 items. So historically, there's always been, you 00:01:41.480 --> 00:01:42.939 know, a lot of um great bargains, door 00:01:42.948 --> 00:01:46.680 busters as it relates to electronics. But we've seen 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:49.489 with even the apparel, there's been some, some 00:01:49.500 --> 00:01:51.668 steep discount. So it's, it's going to be 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:56.439 a promotional uh environment and I think that's where, 00:01:56.519 --> 00:01:57.719 you know, the the consumer can kind of seek 00:01:57.730 --> 00:02:01.433 out the steels. I think the flip side is 00:02:01.444 --> 00:02:02.713 , you know, there's going to be door busters 00:02:02.724 --> 00:02:07.234 over the coming days. But what is the cadence 00:02:07.245 --> 00:02:12.115 of discounting post cyber Monday? What about really beyond 00:02:12.125 --> 00:02:15.175 some of these electronics? Are there items in other 00:02:15.183 --> 00:02:21.129 categories that retailers are seriously marking down? Yeah, 00:02:21.139 --> 00:02:22.969 so, you know, you can go sector by 00:02:22.979 --> 00:02:25.189 sector, you know, the biggest promotional categories are 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:30.538 gonna be apparel, electronics, uh toys and jewelry 00:02:30.838 --> 00:02:31.599 . Um But we're seeing, you know, home 00:02:31.610 --> 00:02:35.490 furnishings is, is another kind of important one. 00:02:35.960 --> 00:02:38.219 And so it's, it's kind of case by case 00:02:38.229 --> 00:02:40.770 . So I wouldn't necessarily wait until the week of 00:02:40.778 --> 00:02:44.399 Christmas. Um because you, you might actually miss 00:02:44.409 --> 00:02:46.819 out this year. In particular, the retailers have 00:02:46.830 --> 00:02:51.860 reduced inventory levels in anticipation of sales expectations. And 00:02:51.868 --> 00:02:53.649 so, although they'll continue to be promotional to move 00:02:53.659 --> 00:02:57.889 through the inventory, you know, they're not necessarily 00:02:57.899 --> 00:03:00.360 forced um to, to heavy, you know, 00:03:00.368 --> 00:03:02.528 to be heavily discounting. Um and they, and 00:03:02.538 --> 00:03:05.179 they might just kind of follow suit with some of 00:03:05.189 --> 00:03:07.210 their biggest competitors versus leading the charge with, you 00:03:07.219 --> 00:03:09.979 know, some Buster type um discount. Is it 00:03:09.990 --> 00:03:14.330 worth waiting longer, let's say to try to hold 00:03:14.338 --> 00:03:16.368 out maybe for even a better deal or that special 00:03:16.379 --> 00:03:21.960 item. So if you have flexibility, you can 00:03:21.969 --> 00:03:24.610 absolutely wait because the, the sooner you get to 00:03:24.838 --> 00:03:27.929 , you know, the big holidays, you know 00:03:27.939 --> 00:03:30.270 , there will still be some, some bargains and 00:03:30.278 --> 00:03:32.270 similar to Thanksgiving, you're gonna have some leftovers. 00:03:32.508 --> 00:03:36.118 Um, it's a question of where the inventory levels 00:03:36.129 --> 00:03:38.520 are. And so if you're flexible, that's one 00:03:38.528 --> 00:03:39.308 way of doing it. The concern being if you're 00:03:39.319 --> 00:03:43.399 looking for a very specific sweater in a size, 00:03:43.528 --> 00:03:46.199 it might be slightly picked over the other challenge if 00:03:46.210 --> 00:03:50.219 you wait too long is going up against shipping deadlines 00:03:50.229 --> 00:03:53.278 . If you're shopping online, what other things, 00:03:53.288 --> 00:03:55.080 Adam should our viewers remember before heading out to stores 00:03:58.020 --> 00:03:59.028 ? Yeah, I mean, look, uh, 00:03:59.038 --> 00:04:00.960 do do as much research as you can ahead of 00:04:00.969 --> 00:04:02.308 time. Um, enjoy it. Um, put 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:04.860 on some Christmas carols. Um, and, and 00:04:04.868 --> 00:04:08.088 really look for as many bargains as, as, 00:04:08.099 --> 00:04:11.479 as possible, you know, the retailers are motivated 00:04:11.490 --> 00:04:14.729 to drive traffic given the consumer headwinds. And so 00:04:14.740 --> 00:04:16.244 you'll see, see, um a number of promotions 00:04:16.254 --> 00:04:19.613 and maybe it's not across the board 20 40% across 00:04:19.625 --> 00:04:21.564 the entire store. But there's gonna be specific, 00:04:23.004 --> 00:04:25.733 uh, specific items that you can definitely take advantage 00:04:25.744 --> 00:04:28.254 of. All right, Adam Davis, managing director 00:04:28.264 --> 00:04:30.944 at Wells Fargo Retail Finance. Adam. Thank you 00:04:30.954 --> 00:04:30.944 . Great tips.