There's a good reason -- at least from a shopping perspective - why Dec. 26 is called Boxing Day. By the time you find a spot in the jam-packed parking lot and navigate your way through the teeming mall and wait endlessly in lineups to check out your merchandise, the idea of lacing on a pair of prizefighter's gloves seems like an appropriate activity. Are those highly touted Boxing Day/Week sales worth all that hassle?
Retail industry observers say while there are some genuine deals to be had post-Dec. 25, for the most part, Boxing Week bargains are more perception than reality.
"They [retailers] order merchandise specifically for Boxing Day sales in order to draw a crowd," says Adrienne Goddard, a retail analyst with Toronto-based Kubas Consultants. "Customers still perceive a big value there and for retailers, [a Boxing Week promotion] serves the purpose of getting more people in the door."
This strategy runs counter to the reason why Boxing Day sales were created in the first place: To rid store shelves of unsold, mostly seasonal, merchandise.
Today, thanks mainly to better inventory management technology and on-demand delivery techniques, most retailers are rarely mired with overstock items. But they still enjoy the business they get from the Boxing Week rush, and hence the sales live on -- albeit often in name only.
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