Christmas Shopping

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The economics of Christmas are significant because Christmas is typically a high-volume selling season for goods suppliers around the world. Sales increase dramatically as people purchase gifts, decorations, and supplies to celebrate. In the U.S., the "Christmas shopping season" starts as early as October. In Canada, merchants begin advertising campaigns just before Halloween (31 October), and step up their marketing following Remembrance Day on 11 November. In the UK and Ireland, the Christmas shopping season starts from mid-November, around the time when high street Christmas lights are turned on. In the United States, it has been calculated that about one fifth of retail sales to one quarter of all personal spending takes place during the Christmas/holiday shopping season. Figures from the U.S. Census Bureau reveal that expenditure in department stores nationwide rose from $20.8 billion in November 2004 to $31.9 billion in December 2004, an increase of 54 percent. In other sectors, the pre-Christmas increase in spending was even greater, due to a November through December buying surge of 100% in bookstores and 170% in jewelry stores. In the same year employment in American retail stores rose from 1.6 million to 1.8 million in the two months leading up to Christmas. This means that while consumers might spend more during this season, they also are given increased employment opportunities as sales rise to meet the increased demand. Industries completely dependent on Christmas include Christmas cards, of which 1.9 billion are sent in the United States each year, and live Christmas trees, of which 20.8 million were cut in the U.S. in 2002. In most Western nations, Christmas Day is the least active day of the year for business and commerce; almost all retail, commercial and institutional businesses are closed, and almost all industries cease activity (more than any other day of the year), whether laws require such or not. In England and Wales, the Christmas Day (Trading) Act 2004 prevents all large shops from trading on Christmas Day. Film studios release many high-budget movies during the holiday season, including Christmas films, fantasy movies or high-tone dramas with high production values to hopes of maximizing the chance of nominations for the Academy Awards. One economist's analysis calculates that, despite increased overall spending, Christmas is a deadweight loss under orthodox microeconomic theory, because of the effect of gift-giving. This loss is calculated as the difference between what the gift giver spent on the item and what the gift receiver would have paid for the item. It is estimated that in 2001, Christmas resulted in a $4 billion deadweight loss in the U.S. alone. Because of complicating factors, this analysis is sometimes used to discuss possible flaws in current microeconomic theory. Other deadweight losses include the effects of Christmas on the environment and the fact that material gifts are often perceived as white elephants, imposing cost for upkeep and storage and contributing to clutter.

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Article Title : Economics of Christmas
Article Snippet :gifts, decorations, and supplies to celebrate. In the U.S., the "Christmas shopping season" starts as early as October. In Canada, merchants begin advertising
Article Title : Christmas and holiday season
Article Snippet :Christmas Day and New Year's Day, the various celebrations during this time create a peak season for the retail sector (Christmas/holiday "shopping season")
Article Title : Christmas Tree Shops
Article Snippet :Christmas Tree Shops (also known as Christmas Tree Shops andThat!, or simply andThat!) is a defunct American chain of big-box specialty retail stores,
Article Title : Christmas in July
Article Snippet :centered on Christmas-themed activities and entertainment, including small gatherings, seasonal entertainment, and shopping. July Christmas celebrations
Article Title : Christmas
Article Snippet :Twas the Night Before Christmas). The poem helped popularize the tradition of exchanging gifts, and seasonal Christmas shopping began to assume economic
Article Title : Black Friday (shopping)
Article Snippet :unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season, with promotional sales aiming to draw large crowds. Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year in
Article Title : Game (retailer)
Article Snippet :developed by Freak Storm Games titled Christmas Shopper Simulator, which received a sequel titled Christmas Shopper 2: Black Friday. GameStop Gamestation
Article Title : Sunday shopping
Article Snippet :typically recognises as a day of rest. Rules governing shopping hours, such as Sunday shopping, vary around the world but many countries and subnational
Article Title : Shopping
Article Snippet :produce markets gradually gave way to shops and shopping centres; which changed the consumer's shopping experience. The New Exchange, opened in 1609 by
Article Title : Shop
Article Snippet :within a marketplace Shopping, e.g.: Christmas shopping Comparison shopping Grocery shopping Online shopping Window shopping The Shop, an American television

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